Return
by walkswithwheels
Summary: "It's time to chronicle my return to Kanto, and all the adventures along the way." Metafiction
1. A New Beginning

**Welcome to another Pokémon story! This one is called Return and was actually written late November 2018. It's only just being posted a few months later because there were certain other stories I wanted to get out of the way. Speaking of posting, the story was written in response to a challenge on a site called The Artist's Zone. The challenge was created by the administrator of the site, who also allowed me to port my results here.**

**Several members of the Artist's Zone were getting Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and/or Pokémon Let's Go Eevee on release day. The administrator compiled a list of who those members were, and I was among them. After that, a challenge was issued in that all members who were getting the game on release day could create a log of their progress and while they were playing. All members would post in the same place, and were allowed to interact with each other as they wished. There were no rules for playing the games themselves, other than to try to log as much as possible. So I participated in the challenge, completed my log, and said log turned into this story.**

**As with all logs, there are a few differences from regular writing. There is not as much description as there would be in a regular story, and aside from this part and maybe something at the end, there will not be any author's notes. Also, similar to other challenges where I play or write with others, only my portion of the challenge will be seen. Finally, despite chapters being regular length, this story is fairly short. The challenge lasted a little less than two weeks, so there's only about 10 chapters here. **

**As always, I do not own Pokémon. Credit goes to the administrator of the Artist's Zone for creating the original challenge and allowing me to port what I had over.**

**It's time to chronicle my return to Kanto, and all the adventures along the way.**

* * *

1\. A New Beginning

Well, after a long time waiting, Pokémon Let's Go is finally here! And as with every Pokémon game, I'm excited to play it!

As with a lot of my Pokémon games recently, I have decided to do a log of my progress, to be turned into a story. Unlike some of my other logs, there will not be a regular story based on this log, and it is a standalone. However, it will still have commentary and details about the game.

There's a thing about Let's Go that makes it a little bit different from other games. It uses Pokémon Go's mechanics for catching, and also allows transferring from Pokémon Go to Let's Go. There is even a special event if one does that, and I do have significant progress in Pokémon Go, so I will be triggering that event. However, this also means that I may have a bit more difficultly recording things or even performing captures.

This is because Pokémon Go's capture system is motion controlled, and my physical disability makes motion controls tough for me to do. However, I was still able to do fairly well with Pokémon Go's motion controls, so I'm hoping for the same thing here. They might still make it difficult for me to comment on captures, though.

Another thing is that I will be playing Pokémon Let's Go like my usual new experience through Pokémon games. This means that I will try to capture as many Pokémon as I can, and try my best to collect everything in the game. However, this also means that while more of the gameplay will be directly explored, I may also be progressing bit slower compared to what is usually recorded in other logs. Pokémon Let's Go also has two versions, and I only have one. However, I am hoping to still complete the Pokédex by trading with someone that has the opposite version, and/or making more progress in Pokémon Go. Something like this isn't usually mentioned in my logs, but any time I'm needing help with that, it will be mentioned here.

The final thing is that this log won't be focusing on story, even though the game is new. The reason for this is that Pokémon Let's Go is a reimaging of Pokémon Yellow, and Pokémon Yellow's story is fairly well known. Furthermore, many of my other stories, such as those in the Traveler series, deal with the Kanto region and the story there. So it's not worth repeating in this log. However, I will comment on the story if there's a significant change, or anything else noteworthy.

With all that out of the way, time to dive right in!

The first thing I'm taken to is a menu. The menu asks what control scheme I would like to use. The first is the regular Nintendo Switch console. The second is the joystick controllers detached from the console. The third is something that looks like a Poké Ball. The latter is something that's going to be relevant later on, but for now, I just pick the regular Switch controller.

Also, the little intro is adorable! I love how Eevee comes right up to the camera, waves, and plays with it, before jumping into the TV screen.

Yes, I said Eevee, not Pikachu.

That's the first major change of this game.

In the original Pokémon Yellow version, the player started with Pikachu, while the rival began with Eevee. The starter could not be changed in any way, unlike other games which give the player a choice of starters. Furthermore, Pikachu could not evolve without being traded away to another game and evolved over there.

However, this game approaches things a little differently.

The reimaging comes in two versions, Pikachu and Eevee. Picking one determines what starter the player will get. Like in the original, the starter cannot be changed. The starters also do not evolve, but get much higher stats and special moves to compensate. Also unlike the original, other Pokémon can be found in the wild that are the same species as the starter. These Pokémon can evolve and have normal stats. More on all that later.

Since I have the Eevee version, that's the Pokémon I will be starting with. My rival will then start with Pikachu, making the starters the opposite of the original.

This doesn't seem like a whole lot of change, but it's very much appreciated. Players who want something closer to the original experience can have Pikachu, or for those who have never played the original games (and given how old they are, even with a 3DS rerelease, it's very likely). Veterans of the older games can pick Eevee for the novelty, since it's the first time a main game has ever had Eevee as a starter option (although the side game Pokémon XD had Eevee as the starter before this one). Since I've played the older games a lot, I'm picking Eevee for the novelty.

But enough about that.

I'm quickly taken to the language selection screen, choosing to play in English.

After that, I'm greeted to an Eevee waking me up and Professor Oak talking about the world Pokémon. The speech is largely unchanged from the original, but with some nice scenery of Professor Oak walking around with Eevee as he talks about the different ways people use Pokémon. It's a nice touch.

And then I'm introduced to inputting my gender and my name.

Which brings me to a couple other changes.

The most obvious one is that the player can now play as a girl, when they could not originally. The second is character customization, which seems to be making some sort of return here. I can choose through many different skin tones and overall looks, but I decide to go with the default lighter skin tone for the girl. Finally, the last change is in a name. This game has more than doubled the amount of characters that are allowed in people's names. As a result, I can name the character my actual name instead of my nickname. I love it because my nickname happens to be the same as a canon character's name (different spelling, though). No one in the Pokémon world has used my actual name yet, though. Seeing as my actual name is a bit rare, that will probably continue.

Anyway, I input my name and head on over to my rival.

The rival is different in this game, because although he looks similar to Blue, he is also friendly, and younger. The game also establishes them as two completely different characters. The game forces me to input a name for him rather than giving me several options. However, it's been established that the default name is Trace, so that's what I decide to go with.

The beginning starts out similar to the original, where I start my room. There's also an e-mail from Trace explaining the basics of the controls. It's fairly straightforward, especially with the Switch controller.

Speaking of Trace, time to go meet him now.

I have to say his dialogue is hilarious… Informal, but also relevant… He reminds me of Barry from the Sinnoh games, although less hyper… Which is great, considering Barry is my favorite rival, and the Sinnoh games are probably my favorite in the series... Off to an excellent start…

And another change from the original… The player now heads straight to the Lab to pick up their Pokémon, instead of heading into the grass and nearly getting attacked (or rather, getting attacked and having Professor Oak stop it, if the player's playing Yellow). I'm glad they didn't use that scene in this game, because it always seemed a bit odd to me… No other game uses that except for Sinnoh, and it can be justified because the professor's lab is not in town…

But anyway, time to follow Trace!

Looks like I have to head towards the grass after all, so to the north I go!

Rather than stepping into the grass, Professor Oak is found at the edge of it. He starts to head into the grass, but then a wild Eevee appears!

And this is the catching tutorial.

It seems as though catching based on where one moves the Switch if using that control. After the player has moved the Switch in the desired direction, they can choose to get ready and then press the A button before making a shot. The shot will then sail straight at the Pokémon, giving the player a chance to catch it. Since this is the tutorial, the Eevee is caught immediately.

It's a little bit different, but something I can easily get used to. It also uses less motion control than the original Pokémon Go did, so that works better for me. There is classical style Pokémon Go catching in the controller options, though. I won't be using them, however.

And there's a hysterical cut scene of Eevee bouncing around and in its Ball. I'm in love with the game, and I haven't even really started yet…

And after another cutscene, Eevee is my new Pokémon. Since it's reminding me of the Sinnoh games so much, I'm going to name it Dia. That was a nickname for one of the protagonists in those games.

It turns out to be a good choice, since I don't know Dia's gender right now. However, she turns out to be female. It's a pretty lucky find, considering female Eevee don't appear often. She has a Serious Nature, with the moves Tackle, Tail Whip, and Growl.

One thing I should mention about moves is that they work a bit differently. A lot of the moves in previous games are gone, mainly to create a simpler experience and prevent new players from being confused and frustrated with trying to memorize all of them. It's also way to keep things similar to the original experience, while the same time allowing for new mechanics. The original experience did not have as many moves to choose from, but some of the moves from newer games have made it in. As a result, many Pokémon's movesets have been tweaked. I don't mind either way, since I'm willing to work with whatever the game gives me, and I'm used to playing older games with limited movepools.

With that of the way, it's on to the next step of my adventure!

And that's connecting with Pokémon Go. Connecting with Pokémon Go is the only way to get a special event Pokémon that I mentioned earlier. I'm eager to get it because it looks awesome, and is entirely new starting with this game…

Unfortunately, it looks like I can't do that right now, and must wait until much later…

But there is something else I can do, and it also involves getting another Pokémon.

Looks like I have to go a bit further into the game to get it though, but probably not by much.

Time to test out the new mechanics!

The first thing I notice is that Pokémon can be encountered roaming around on the overworld and then getting into a battle with them, rather than randomly encountering the in tall grass. It makes finding a specific Pokémon much less frustrating. It also makes traversing the world easier because I'm not constantly being attacked by wild encounters (or forced to use repels to fend them off). Once again, it's a much appreciated change, but I suspect it would take a lot of resources to implement in the future Pokémon games, because all the overworld sprites also have to be programmed in…

Nevertheless, it's great while it's here.

Furthermore, there are the traditional Pidgey on this route, but also Bellsprout. That's a new encounter, and I suspect it's for something I know that's coming up a little later on. It's also worth noting that there ae changes to the box system. In previous Pokémon games, one had to access their box only at a Pokémon Center, but here a box can be accessed at any time. It's similar to Pokémon Go, and I like that similarity. Furthermore, the entire party gets experience from catches, although I'm not sure about battles. Pokémon in the box do not gain experience. I have to say it makes training a bunch of Pokémon a lot easier, and one can still rotate in and out who they want to train. A small change from the original is that if the starter is boxed, they will still follow the player around. I like the idea of the starter following me, so I enjoy the concept.

After all this, I've caught a Rattata (Ratty, a Pokémon I am not using), a Pidgey (Angel), and a Bellsprout (Sharon). Interestingly, my Pokémon are all female. It's been a long time since I've had that happen in a run… Anyway, time to level things up…

And level up they do… Before long, everyone is at level 7… Dia learns Quick Attack. Meanwhile, Sharon has Vine Whip and Growth, and Angel Tackle, Sand Attack, and Gust.

There's also another thing I get from leveling up.

Candies.

In Pokémon Go, candies helped increase stats and each Pokémon line had a specific type of candy. Candy could be gotten by walking around with Pokémon, acquiring more of the same species, and sending them to the professor. In this game, candy only increases stats, with specific species yielding different types of candy. I've got quite a few different types, but I'm not going to use anything yet, because my team is not set in stone.

On I continue to Viridian City. As in the original, there's not much to do here other than get the Parcel and make a delivery. The game does give me the option to speed right back, but I want to explore little more…

Also, Jessie, James, and Meowth appear here, taking the place of the old man who shows the player how to catch Pokémon from the original. I have to say their models look great, and their characters are right on point with their personalities. For those unaware, these three were the main members of Team Rocket in the anime and constantly terrorized Ash and his companions. But often times, they held no real malice, other than a sense of loyalty to their boss, and their plans often failed. Sometimes they would even join up with the heroes. In the original, they appeared much later and were never named the entire game. They'd either be added on or would take the place of some Rocket battles in the original Red and Blue. I can't wait to see how they are handled here, especially since they are some of my favorite characters in all of Pokémon.

But enough about that, time to head to the optional Route 22.

The player doesn't need to head here until much later, but they can go now to catch more Pokémon and eventually have a rival battle. It was particularly important in the original, because this rival battle was one of two that determined what the rival's Eevee evolved into. Since my rival doesn't have Eevee, it's not as important now.

Catching new Pokémon is, however.

I rapidly catch three new Pokémon. Ike (Nidoran male), Stab (Spearow), and Catalina (Nidoran female). I won't be using any of them, but they are nice to have. I also noticed the absence of Mankey on this route. I can guess why, but I will put my guess in later. Regardless, Sharon learns Wrap here.

For now, it's time to head back to the lab.

And Eevee cements its place in the team by pretending to be my second hat… And Trace is hilarious as usual…

Other than that, the cutscene is mostly the same as the original…

And now I can finally get one of my main Pokémon.

If only I can connect my Poké Ball Plus. It takes a while, due to me misinterpreting the diagrams and eventually realizing I need to put my Switch in docked mode. Docked mode is something only used when the Switch connects to a TV, and since I plan on only using my Switch as a handheld device, I've never used docked mode…

It takes a while, but eventually get my Pokémon.

Mew.

Mew is unique in that can learn every Technical Machine, or otherwise man-made move. It can also use Transform to potentially and temporarily gain every other move. As such, it's extremely versatile and one of my favorite Pokémon. It's also interesting because the idea of getting Mew early on in the game is because of a glitch.

In the original Pokémon Red and Blue, one could exploit certain glitch is to get a Mew before the second Badge (so within the first quarter of the game). This glitch was patched out Yellow, but still remained one of the most useful, beloved, and well-known glitches. Nice to see it officially being acknowledged, in a sense. Too bad the Poké Ball Plus is so expensive, but it was well worth the buy… Therefore, Mew is the first permanent party member.

As far as my new Pokémon goes, Mew is level 1. This is probably another reference to the glitch, because the player could get level 1 Pokémon, when such was normally not possible in the older games. This Mew only knows Pound. Unlike Mew from other events, this one can be named. I quickly name it Rose. Mew is also a Pokémon that doesn't have a gender in the game. However, I like giving my genderless Pokémon genders, so I will refer to Rose as female for the rest of this log.

Also, it appears Trace wants a battle. The first Trainer battle in the game. I found it kind of odd that the battle is fought after getting Pokémon from the surrounding routes, and he still doesn't have any... Especially odd considering the first rival battle is before the player can catch any Pokémon in every other main game... Perhaps to ensure the battle isn't luck-based, especially since the starters don't naturally know super effective moves against each other... Pikachu can learn Double Kick in this game, but only as a partner, and it's still not that good…

Anyway, his starter's only level 6, and the rest of my team, Rose excluded, is level 8. He gets off a Thundershock, but goes down with two Quick Attacks.

Time to move on.

There's a few more Trainer battles, and since everyone on the team gest experience, I don't need to worry about leveling up Rose before fighting them.

Also, the introduction to partner customization is shown here. I can play with my partner, Dia, and feed her berries. I think it might increase stats, but I'm not sure. Nonetheless, it's like Pokémon Refresh and its predecessors from the other games. I'm not sure how much I will be using Dia, so I doubt I will use it much past here. There's also the ability to customize the partner alongside customizing the player character. I have to say the outfits are adorable, so I really like this feature. Even if I don't use Dia, I will be using this as much as I can.

Another battle with Trace awaits. It's just as easy as the last, with only a few hits from Quick Attack taking him down before he can hardly do a thing against me.

So now's the time to level up Rose. She's level 4 now, but she needs to get to level 9, and she levels up slowly… Eventually, she does level up, and I decide to keep her at the front of the party. She's going to learn a good move soon, so I want her to be able to do that. All this took a toll on my Poké Balls, so I need to gather more.

I'm able to grab 23 of them, bringing my total up to 40. I also grab three potions, and now I have four of those. I'm also broke, but I don't feel like it's much of an issue right now.

Especially since I will need all the Poké Balls I just got.

Also, I talked to someone, and realized just now that I can take a Pokémon out of its Ball and walk around with it… Rose is going to go around with me for the entire game, unless I catch something cuter…

Anyway, my next destination is to the north.

There's two new Pokémon here, so I catch a Caterpie (Karla), and a Weedle (Wanda). Also, I just realized that all of my Pokémon a female other than Ike, who can't be (and technically Rose, but I'm acting like she's female). I don't think I've ever had that happen on a run unintentionally…

Anyway, off to the Viridian Forest.

Another Trainer battle awaits, but it's nothing Rose's Pound can't handle.

After that, I get another Pokémon I want.

Pikachu.

Pikachu is good because it's an early game Electric Type Pokémon, and Electric Types are useful. It's also nice because the Pokémon I actually want to use for an Electric Type is a lot later on. But I will use Pikachu for now until I find it.

Here's my first male of the team, and since he's the mascot of the series and depicted with one of the heroes of these games, I'm naming him Chase. It's the male player character's default name, and I find it fitting here. Pikachu's also a bit harder to catch than Pokémon found thus far, so the game gives me a tutorial on how to use berries. It simply using it like an item in battle, and the effects will last for limited time. I think they can be bought eventually.

Viridian Forest also introduces another mechanic.

This mechanic is called rare spawns.

Rare spawns involve Pokémon that are difficult to find, and usually can't be gotten normally. Furthermore, these Pokémon often limited otherwise, such as being given as gifts. However, there are ways of getting these rare Pokémon to spawn. One is by using an item called a Lure, which I don't have yet. Another is by capturing the same species repeatedly. This is similar to using chaining techniques in other games in the series.

Right now the rare spawn is something I want, Bulbasaur. This Pokémon does appear as a gift later, but I have to complete a specific sidequest in order to get that, and probably won't be able to complete said sidequest by the time I encounter it.

So I want to try and catch it now. It's also worth noting that if I have difficulty catching it and use up most of my Balls, I will reset until I can.

I am also changing my party around for this. Since I am mostly going to be capturing a lot of Pokémon, I don't want my main team to gain too much experience. So instead I switch it only to Chase. He needs training, so now's a good time. I may also switch it to some of the other Pokémon in my box, but I will have to see.

After about catching about 15 Weedle, I capture a Bulbasaur. I use the Razz and Nanab Berries to make it easier to catch and less likely to run away, and I am successful my first try. The Pokémon is named Summer. I'm not using Summer now, but he might be useful if I need a different Grass type. Furthermore, I let some of the captured Weedles stay in my party, and a few of them evolve to Kakuna. That fills up another page in my Pokédex without wasting a space in my box. Pretty useful. Also knowing that I catch a Metapod (Sheldon). With that of the way, it's time to finish leveling up, sending up the extra Pokémon, and heading further into the forest. Chase learns Double Kick during on this, and now the entire party is level 9.

The Trainers here aren't very difficult, and Dia learns Double Kick. Something I also forgot to mention is that trainers also give out Poké Balls, since catching Pokémon is a source of training. It's very useful, especially when one is trying to get all the Pokémon.

Before long, I make it to Pewter. Trace is there, and gives me five potions. Pretty nice, considering now I don't have to buy them on my own. Luckily, I picked up a mushroom in the forest, so I quickly sell that. I don't buy anything here, though. I found out there's a woman that hands out Big Pearls if someone agrees to watch her Slowpoke. That item can be sold for a lot of money. The woman wasn't in the originals, and is probably here in the remakes because it's easy to run low on money after having to use so many Poké Balls. According to the dialogue, it's quite a relaxing time. But I don't get to see any of it.

Instead, it's time to head straight to the Gym.

And also time to introduce a new mechanic: Gym requirements.

In this game, these requirements must be met before a player is allowed to even enter the Gym. They're fairly straightforward, thankfully. Since this is the first Gym, it tests a player's knowledge of type matchups. The player is told before this that Rock Pokémon are weak to Grass and Water Pokémon. The test comes in that the player must show the Gym guide at the beginning of the Gym a Water or Grass type Pokémon to progress. Luckily, there are plenty of options and I get by with showing Sharon.

I actually approve of this, considering how difficult Brock could be in the original game. This had to do with the player's starter choice. Since the player started with Pikachu, they could do little or no damage to Brock. Most of the other Pokémon in the area are not much help, with the majority of them only knowing Normal Type offensive moves. Normal type attacks are resisted by Rock, and they already had high defense.

However, there was one saving grace.

Mankey, a Fighting Type Pokémon could be found on Route 22. Fighters are strong against Rock types, and Mankey could learn Low Kick to take advantage of that. Furthermore, Mankey also resisted Rock type attacks, although Brock didn't have any at the time.

The problem is when this came in. Route 22 is a completely optional area, and it's near the last place in the game. So it's not a place people would normally think of going in early without a guide. Furthermore, Fighting's advantage against Rock wasn't as well known, and maybe still isn't. Therefore, it was very likely for players to not realize that Mankey is even an option, and have a miserable time against Brock because they're doing almost nothing…

I'm glad the way this game's setup prevents that, because that could be very frustrating early on…

Anyway, onto the Gym itself.

The Gym is largely unchanged from the original, with its two Trainers and straight path. Sharon and Chase handle things easily here, although Chase takes a bit of damage. Rose also learns Swift here, but I'm not using it now.

Luckily, the damage is not enough to run back and heal, so it's time to face Brock.

He has Geodude and Onix, just as he did in the originals. However, they are lower leveled, and only slightly above my level. Furthermore, instead of having the defensive attack Bide (user takes attacks for two turns, than strikes back at the opponent with double the damage taken), he has Headbutt. Headbutt is a powerful move that can cause the opponent to flinch and lose their turn if the user strikes first. It's deadly at this point of the game, and I wonder if my Pokémon will faint. That alone sends Sharon into the red, but thankfully, she's able to take both of Brock's Pokémon down with two Vine Whips.

I get out of the Gym and Blue appears. He doesn't seem to have changed much, other was taking an interest in trying to help out younger Trainers. He's already established a name for himself, so I wonder if I will see him again… Outside of where I know I will see him, that is. Anyway, he gives me five Great Balls, a noticeable upgrade from what I have. Also, everything in my team can learn Headbutt, so I quickly teach it to them.

And it's a good place to stop, it seems. Especially since the next area has another rare encounter I want.

Next time to get that rare Pokémon amongst others, and head the mountain of Moon.


	2. Broadening Horizons

2\. Broadening Horizons

Up and at them for another chapter of Pokémon: Let's Go! I wonder what I will find today… Also, first things first, I have to head back to Viridian and get some Bellsprout. If I'm looking for version exclusives, I will need something to trade away…

Speaking of version exclusives, I found a way to get some. Let's Go uses a password system to control goes online. However, many players have set up a system where they simply use three Pikachu. That way many players can be online at the same time and help with trading. Through this, I was able to get a Growlithe, a Grimer, an Oddish, and a Hitmonlee. The former three are version exclusives, while although the latter is not, it is difficult to get. I also helped someone evolve a Kadabra, although I had to trade back the evolved Alakazam. That's all I could get for now though. There's only so much people are willing to give me since I'm so early in the game…

Furthermore, I can't use a lot of the Pokémon I got because they are too high leveled. Not like I would use them anyway, but it's worth noting. Also worth noting that none of them have nicknames, so if I use them, I will just give them nicknames here. Finally, poor Wanda and Carla had to be sacrificed because I didn't have enough Pokémon to trade. Luckily, it's easy enough to catch another version of them.

Anyway, moving on, I get another Big Pearl from the Slowpoke lady, and I have plenty of money to buy things. Also, because I have a Badge, I can buy more items. Most noteworthy is Great Balls, which are stronger than what I'm currently using. They cost quite a bit more, though. I now have 15 of those and 40 of the regular Balls, although I doubt I will be using the latter much longer. This time, I have about half my money left, in case I need to go back and buy more things.

Also, seems like there's a new class of Trainer in this game, called a Coach Trainer. Coach Trainers help out younger ones, but they are also more difficult to fight. This one has a Bulbasaur with Vine Whip and Tackle, about the same level as me. Angel takes him down easily with Gust, but she does go into the yellow… After the battle, the Coach Trainer gives me a Revive, something I don't think I can buy yet. They seem similar to the Trial Guides/Route Kahunas/Items Specialists in the Alola games… Which is kind of cool considering there was a reward from one of the people at the end of the game… Wonder how many more of the Coach Trainers I will find, or for they will have some sort of reward too… Also, Sharon learns Acid here… Quite useful…

The other Trainers here are nothing special. But the Pokémon are. One of them is Ekans, a version exclusive. I'm hoping to trade those if I can, because it will give people a better idea of what I want. I catch one (a female, of course), and name her Snake. Another is a rare spawn, Charmander. That Pokémon is quite useful, so I want add it to my team. I also pick up my first Lure here, which makes rare Pokémon like Charmander easier to find. I don't hesitate to use it.

I also learned a bit about capture combos after having a scare. Originally, I thought that if the players simply encountered another Pokémon regardless of what they did, the combo would be broken. However, I found out that the combo is only broken if the other Pokémon is caught. Which is good thing considering a Rattata ran straight into me when I was trying to get an Ekans combo…

And finally, Charmander appears. It's very feisty, breaking out of a Poké Ball and a Great Ball after a Razz Berry was used. Luckily, I get an excellent capture on the third try, and it is mine. The newcomer is male, breaking the curse that has been on me this entire game (well, if one can call a curse). His name is Damien, after a Trainer who temporarily owned a Charmander in the anime.

I also decide to try my hand again at online trading. I manage to get a Mankey, a useful fighting type on this route in the other version. That leaves only two more version exclusives to get, not counting evolutions, which I won't be doing until the main game is cleared. This is because of a sidequest much later on, but I will explain when I get there. I also get a rare Pokémon, a Mr. Mime. It's not something I'll ever be using, but it may be useful to someone else. I also learned that the trading hub seems to be a reliable place to evolve Pokémon that can only evolve that way. Therefore, I think I will get the Pokémon the need to trade myself, and evolve them by trading with others. There are four of them in total, and one (Alakazam), I got earlier. I'm hoping people will eventually trade them back, so that I can use them to access a sidequest, but I guess I will see. Anyway, time to train.

Although, I don't have to train much, because Damien's already at level 9. I also take this time to get Carla and Wanda to their final forms, because it's pretty easy and add some pages to my Dex. The final forms can be found in the wild, but they're very difficult to encounter and catch. I also have some Pokémon I can send up for candy, but I'm keeping the version exclusives that I find until I have the ones that are not in my version. Sheldon also gets sent up here, because with Carla evolved, I don't really have a use for him… Also worth knowing that this took a lot out of my Poké Ball collection, so I have to go restock. I will definitely need them, considering what I'm going to do in Mt. Moon…

Also, there's another Coach Trainer. He injures Chase and Rose with his Meowth's Pay Day. Meowth is another version exclusive, and a Pokémon I should pick up soon enough. He also gives out the move Pay Day. Pay Day is known for giving money after battles, but it's fairly useless otherwise, especially since Headbutt outclasses it… Also just noticed that this game uses the scaling experience system introduced in the Unova games and brought back in the Alola ones… Definitely have mixed feelings about that… I will keep them to myself now, though, as Mt. Moon looms…

But before that event, something else important comes up.

The Pokémon Center. It's good for healing, but it's also important for another reason.

There's a Pokémon I want to get here, although I have to pay a bit of money.

And it's called Magikarp.

Normally, this would seem like a ripoff, as Magikarp is incredibly common and can be found using the most basic of fishing rods. However, it's actually a fairly good deal, because the basic fishing rod that can be used to find this Pokémon is not found until around the third Badge. I'm assuming it's the same in this game, if not later. And Magikarp also evolves into a strong Pokémon called Gyarados at level 20. With the way the game's levels typically go, Magikarp should hit level 20 around the second Gym.

At which point it becomes one of the best Water types available and could do significant damage to almost everything in the game.

The flipside is that Magikarp comes at a measly level 5, and takes a long time to gain experience. Hopefully, with the new experience system, it will not be as bad. Furthermore, I will be switching Magikarp into the beginning of every trainer fight to gain even more experience.

It's funny because this person is often depicted as a scam artist who tries to con people out of their money… But I can only imagine my character gleefully skipping up to him and thankful for the purchase. Perhaps the seller can use the fact that Magikarp evolves into Gyarados as an advertisement.

So I grab my Magikarp (Sushi) and add him to my collection.

There's just one problem.

In order to add him to the team, I have to switch out someone else.

And I have so many powerful Pokémon, it's a tough choice…

I eventually settle on dropping Angel. She's fairly weak, and a Flying Type is not that useful right now. By the time it is, I will have plenty of other options.

So I head inside to train and gather more Pokémon. It's worth noting I'm not using my traded Pokémon at this point, both because they can disobey me, and because I may want to use them for something else much later on.

There are many more new Pokémon in Mt. Moon, and they are useful. Therefore, I want to get as many as I can.

Zubat (Baseball), Paras (Shroom), and Geodude (Dynamite) come easily. But there are others who do not. Chansey is a rare spawn, and I want to try and get it. So I attempt to search for it by catching Geodudes.

Except another Pokémon breaks the combo.

A Clefairy.

Just like in the original, Clefairy is difficult to find. Unlike in the original, it is the only pure Fairy type in the game. Fairy is an incredibly good typing, so I would like to use it. Clefairy also learns its Fairy Type moves much earlier than in the games prior to this, so it can be useful faster. It doesn't learn as many moves as it normally does, but it can still be versatile.

Luckily, this one comes easy, and I name him Music

So after about 10 catches, Chansey appears. Thankfully, I'm able to get it with a Razz Berry and a Great Ball. Getting to the point where Poké Balls are an iffy choice even for regular Pokémon… On something rare like Chansey, they almost never work… Also what noting that Onix can be found here, but it almost never appears… It could not be found at Mt. Moon in the original, and there are plenty of other places to catch it, so I'm not concerned.

Also, decide to give online trading one last try. Unfortunately, after about half an hour, and no success, I give up. It's really a shame, because the online trading system is so primitive it's hard to articulate what one wants… I suppose it's a simple way to introduce people to online features, and I have to admit it does the job very well. But for those aiming for completion, the system works against them. Of course the more complex features from previous games like GTS also had some element of luck, so it could end just as badly… And it required being away for an amount of real time for the trade come through… Luckily, I'm not the only one in this situation, and there are communities on gaming sites willing to trade using Nintendo Switch friend codes and locally. I made a few posts there, so hopefully it should work… It might be bit easier since I can ask for what I want, but I will see. The only thing I can do now is progress further.

Also, training Sushi use of almost all my Balls… I'm not going to restock, because there's not many new Pokémon before the next city, and I can get more of them by battling the trainers here. Catalina and Ike also evolve to their middle forms, although it will probably be a while before I see their final ones… Worth noting that the Team Rocket trio also make another appearance before their first appearance in the originals… They hinted that they're going after fossils, leaving me to chase them to the end…

Also, I realized that putting Music on the team means I must switch out someone else yet again. I quickly choose to switch out Sharon. She's strong against the next Gym, but quickly loses her usefulness after that… Not to mention, in general, there are better Grass Types out there…

And there's some very annoying opponents here… One is a Clefairy that keeps putting me to sleep… Another is a Sandshrew that uses Sand Attack to make Chase's attacks miss, then poisons him… Eventually, Chase gets so injured I have to use a Potion… Even then, I'm still in the yellow after the fight, so I head back to the Center…

Unfortunately, there is still tough opponents, with Damien getting injured from a Grimer's Pound and Poison Gas. After constantly using Scratch and still getting injured, I switch Damien out for Rose, and she easily defeats the opponent with Pound. I take this time to teach the remaining members of the team Headbutt. Damien also finally gets Ember. His moves are Headbutt, Growl, Smokescreen, and Ember. Music's moves are Pound, Headbutt, Sing, and Minimize. Sushi still only knows Splash.

There are more Trainers along the way, and Dia learns Sand Attack. Dia's Double Kick proves useful here, as it's my only defense against the Hikers' Rock Types.

I also find a rare catch, Clefable. It's the evolved form of Music, gives a lot of experience, and is only found on the bottom level. It's not worth using, though, because it doesn't learn any moves due to already being evolved from a stone. Speaking of stones, I find some Moon Stones hidden in the craters. They keep spawning daily, which is very nice considering Moon Stones were inexplicably limited in the original games. I quickly use one on Catalina to get her to her final form. The other will be saved for Music. When I get a chance, I will also come back to collect more. I'm able to catch a few Clefable (the first being named Fable), and Music learns Amnesia.

Also, someone was kind enough to trade me Sandshrew for one of my Ekans. Now, Scyther is the only one remaining. I've heard it's rare and late in the game, however, so people either don't have it or are unwilling to trade unless there's something equally rare. Speaking of rare, another Chansey spawns and I try to capture it, but fail. There's a second successful catch, with Dia learning Bite, and Damien evolving into a Charmeleon. Also, I catch an Onix, amazingly enough. I end up using all my Great Balls in the process, though. The newcomer is named Tunneled. Sushi also learns Tackle during all this, being able to damage foes. I still don't trust him in battle, though…

The Team Rocket trio appear again, still looking for Fossils… The game sure loves its foreshadowing… Also, Chase battles a Rocket and learns Thunder Wave. Not sure if I will use it much though, because it was used to catch Pokémon in the other games in the series.

Finally, I reach the event with the Fossils and it seems to be most of the same. The one difference that I know of is that the player can find the other fossil after the game is cleared in the final dungeon. It's something that's much appreciated, since in both the originals and the remakes of Red and Blue, the player would have to trade to get the other fossil matter what. And since the fossil Pokémon cannot be used until very late in the game, it's extremely frustrating. But at least that frustration is solved here. Anyway, I have a bias towards Helix (blame Twitch Plays Pokémon), so that is what I choose. I try to catch another Onix, but the Pokémon flees. It also seems something like Pokémon Refresh is available in other ways, because Rose is paralyzed by a Voltorb and immediately heals herself… Perhaps it's from all the walking around…

And it's here that the Team Rocket trio has their first battle. In the original games, they sent out Ekans, Koffing, and Meowth in a single battle. In this game, the trio battles in a double battle, and Meowth doesn't fight. Not sure whether he will fight later, though. Anyway, I send Sushi into battle and he does fairly well. Granted, Dia's his partner and she's doing the majority of the damage… Nice to know Sushi can at least take some hits, though…

At last, I've made it out of Mt. Moon. There's only one new Pokémon in the area, Psyduck, and it's not worth using. The first one gets away from me, but I do catch a second and name it Excedrin. I make a note of catching a Rattata, since it's used for something in the next city.

Speaking of the next city, I'm finally here.

There's a new feature where a player can throw money into a fountain in order to increase their Pokémon's happiness. I prefer to spend my money on other things, even if happiness does increase stats in this game, so I won't be using it.

There are some features I will be using, though.

One of them is a special Move Tutor. This move tutor teaches moves to the Player's partner Pokémon. What moves he teaches depend on the player's partner. If the partner is Pikachu, he will offer to teach it moves based off of Surf and Fly. These are moves Pikachu could learn through special events in previous games (although most of them involved real life events). In Eevee's case, it can learn powerful moves that are the types of all its current evolutions. Since I'm going up against Misty's Gym, I teach Dia the Electric move Buzzy Buzz.

There's also a Trainer that is willing to make a trade here. If the player has a Rattata that they're willing to give away, the Trainer will give them an Alolan one. Alolan variants of Pokémon have different movesets, different Types, and sometimes different stats. Some of them make an appearance here, mainly to fill out Types. In Alolan Rattata's case, it's a Dark/Normal type and therefore helpful against many areas. It's also worth noting that Dark Types do not exist among Kanto Pokémon without their Alolan Forms. So I go and pick one up here. I'm not particularly fond of Alolan Rattata, so I probably won't use it.

There's also another event that I want to trigger here. In one of the houses, there's a woman that gives the player a Bulbasaur. In the original games, she would only give Bulbasaur to a player whose starter Pikachu had high happiness. However, this was very difficult to do without exploiting glitches. This game changed it so she would give her Pokémon to anyone that had caught 30 or more Pokémon.

However, catching mechanics are bit different.

Typically, this means catching 30 different species, and this is what I assumed I had to do. However, it is instead 30 successful Pokémon catches total, regardless of species. I end up blowing that total out of the water, with my successful catches being 131… Kind of crazy, and I still have more to go… Anyway, after all the trouble I went through to get it, I may as well keep this Bulbasaur. His name is Autumn. After that, I buy some Great Balls and head to the north. There is a Rare Candy here too. Combined with the one I found in Mt. Moon, I know exactly who that's going to…

Anyway, I continue on my journey.

Only to run straight into battle with Trace.

He's got an Oddish on his side, but he's still not a challenge. Simple Type advantages and taking advantage of Pikachu's weak defenses with Dia destroys him…

After this, it turns out he's a bit terrified of entering Bill's house, because he found a talking Pokémon there instead… It's really just a transformed Bill, but Trace doesn't know that… It's interesting, because in the original version, Blue has stated that he'd already seen Bill and his Pokémon collection before the transformation happened… So it must've been very recent, or Blue must've been very early… Also, the game still loves its foreshadowing, but I think it's appropriate here… Otherwise, the event with Bill, or the fact that this even can happen in the Pokémon world seems out of nowhere… And since then, it's only happened one other time (not counting any other remakes or the original games). But anyway, on I go.

My next step is the Nugget Bridge, and its battles. Interesting that these are optional now. In the original games, and the remakes before this, the Trainers would stop the player and walk over to fight. In this game, they do not attack unless the player talks them. I suppose it's to speed things up, since I know some players find the challenge irritating. I also head back to Cerulean to teach Dia the other two moves. They're quite powerful, and have some nice effects (guaranteed burn for Sizzly Slide, absorbing damage for Bouncy Bubble). This, along with Bite, gives Dia a well-rounded moveset, and allows her to act as a backup to the other members of the team. A shame I have to get rid of Headbutt, but I can always reteach it. There are also other special moves that can be learned, but I'm thinking they will come after the main game is cleared. Also, I do some battles to level up, and Music learns Metronome. Not sure if I'll use it…

And the offer to join Team Rocket is still there… I'm one of the many who wondered what would've happened if the protagonist took that opportunity… Of course, some of my other stories explore it, and it's not pretty. At all. But that's beside the point.

Because the point now is a new route.

And with that comes new Pokémon.

The first is a Charmander, only given out if the player has had 50 successful captures. Once again, I blow that out of the water with 135, and named the newcomer Fireblaze. There are several new wild encounters as well. A Venonat (Andy) and a Meowth (Paycheck) are easily found.

The third Pokémon, Squirtle, is not.

It's a rare spawn, which means that I have to catch many other Pokémon in order to catch it.

After many Balls used and catching up around 10 to 15 Venonat, I finally encounter a Squirtle. Thankfully, he's an easy catch and is named Patrick. Summer and Angel also evolve, but they still have to evolve again.

And finally, Sushi gets to level 18.

And I easily know what that means.

The two Rare Candies are immediately fed to him.

And he then becomes one of the fiercest, most powerful Water Pokémon of all time.

Gyarados.

Upon evolving, Sushi immediately learns Bite. That and his Typing will make him useful for the next Gym.

But I still must progress through the rest of the route before I get there.

I try to level up Chase, but unfortunately he is underperforming. He gets injured by a Pidgetto's Quick Attack, and poisoned and injured by an Ekans.

But the worst comes when he is up against a Geodude. I start off with Double Kick, thinking it will be an advantage. Unfortunately, the opponent uses Bide. And two Double Kicks isn't enough finish the match. So Chase is easily defeated, as I am forced to use a Revive. I wonder how much longer he will be on the team, with his defenses being so low… Also, Music's Fairy typing proves useful, because fighting types like Machop do hardly any damage… It's a bit odd, seeing that, but it's a welcome change…

Also the TM for Thunder Wave is here. Music, Sushi, and Rose all learn the move. Sushi also gets Headbutt, an upgrade over what he previously had.

There's a Coach Trainer with Seismic Toss, and she catches me off guard. I send in Music but Seismic Toss ignores Typings to deal set damage, with the exception being if the target is immune. Music gets injured, but still wins. Damien, Music, and Rose all learn the move. Chase can also learn it, but I don't give it to him yet.

Bill's house is just ahead, but I think I will save that for another time. After all, that is long, and it's getting a bit late.


	3. Double

3\. Double

And off to another chapter of Let's Go: Eevee! Last time, I came close to the Cerulean Gym. Today, I'm hoping to win the Badge and head for Vermillion. Given the proximity, maybe I can even win the next Badge. But I will see.

Also, got some friend requests accepted on the Switch, and started a conversation with someone who is willing to help me get some of the remaining Pokémon that require trading if I provide the appropriate Pokémon in return. It makes things much easier, especially since of the Pokémon I'd like to use requires trading for its final form.

For now, I must head to Bill's.

And it appears he got turned into a Nidorino this time around… I've no idea why that inexplicably replaces Clefairy, but the scene is otherwise the same. I personally think Clefairy suits Bill more, but I suppose the change was done because Clefairy could potentially reach the computer that Bill needs to fix the problem, while Nidorino can't.

Anyway, there's a really cool 3D cutscene of the whole thing, actually explaining what happened. Apparently, there was a Pokémon too, and it escaped somewhere… Hopefully, someone finds it… Also worth noting that Bill gives out multiple SS Tickets this time around. I wonder if that's to take advantage of the new co-op feature, or if the SS Anne was changed somehow.

Regardless, time to head back to the city. Poor Chase is still falling behind, and I need him for the next Gym. He is about three levels lower than everyone else, so I give him some experience. The game isn't exactly difficult, but, seeing as I want Chase on the team for a while, every little bit helps. Chase also learns Light Screen in the process.

With that, it's now finally time to head back.

But there is a bit more to do.

There is been a robbery, and I have to go investigate. It sort knowing there's a little change in dialogue when it comes to what the police officer says. In the original, she states that even the police force has trouble with the Rockets. In this version, she states that she is guarding the house in order to protect the victims inside, and that she won't let even a Rattata slip past. I like those changes, because it makes a lot more sense. Even though the police force having trouble with the Rockets is believable, it's never see in the games. And it doesn't make sense that she wouldn't talk about the victims otherwise. It's a minor change, but one that really is appreciated.

Also, it appears I can't investigate the robbery until after I beat Misty. Time to go challenge the Gym!

This is Gym's test requires to have at least one Pokémon that is level 15 or higher. I thought it was level 20 for some reason, but I suppose that would be a bit too high leveled for some players to reach… Most of my team is at that level now, but I've done a lot of extra training, and have Pokémon that level easily… This Gym received a very cool redesign, with the pathway being almost underwater. The Gym Trainers also standing on diving boards instead of swimming in the water like in the original… Not sure how I feel about that change, since I think it looks a little odd… There's also animation where they dive into the water when attacking the player… I honestly find it a little unnecessary, but cool regardless... Also, I just realized the Trainers here have the same names as Misty's sisters in the anime. It's a great reference, and it's interesting to think of the four sisters fighting alongside each other… Perhaps Misty likes them more she wants to admit… Also, one of the Swimmers does significant damage to Chase because she has a Seel that knows Aqua Jet… I still manage to win, but it takes a couple of hits… I'm surprised, because I wasn't aware Seel had such good defenses…

Anyway, time to go take on Misty. She uses Psyduck rather than Staryu, and it's a welcome change. Since her next Pokémon is the evolution Starmie, the two act almost the same. I don't get to see much of the differences though, because I use Dia and Buzzy Buzz. Psyduck goes down in one hit. Starmie gets off Scald, a powerful move that can cause a burn. It does about a quarter of Dia's health in damage, and is a significant upgrade from what she had the last remake (Water Pulse). However, Starmie gets paralyzed, and the rest is history. Scald is mine, so I teach it to Sushi and Rose. I'm not sure how much Sushi will use it, because it's a special move and he's a physical attacker. Rose will benefit greatly from it, though.

New items are available to me now. One particular one is Lures, which allow rare Pokémon to appear more often. Since I'm going to be catching everything, I will need every one I can get. Super Potions also appear, but they're fairly expensive, and there's something better coming later. I buy a few just in case, but I don't know if I will be using them. I also buy a lot of Great Balls, per usual.

And now the officer's dealing with a misbehaving Squirtle, and have to chase after it. Leaving me with full access to the house. At least it's a better explanation than inexplicably moving out of the way in the originals. And it's yet another foreshadowing for something that comes later. I can't imagine the officer will be too pleased when I tramp through here, though…

Time to do battle with Team Rocket yet again. This Grunt has a Raticate, and it knows the move Bite. Luckily, Music's typing comes to the rescue again, but I have problems with flinching because it's faster. It also introduces me to the annoying Super Fang. Super Fang does damage equal to half of the opponents remaining HP, regardless of Type, unless the opponent is immune. Since I have a lot of HP by this point, it does quite a bit of damage. Luckily, I can use a Potion to heal up. This is also my first use of Thunder Wave, since I can use it to cripple Raticate by lowering its speed and preventing flinching. It does miss the first time, though. Anyway, Raticate goes down easily to a few Headbutts, and I get the TM Dig as a reward. I teach to Music, Rose, Chase, and Damien. Since I have no other defense against electricity at this point, and the next Gym Leader is Electric type, I'd like to have as many Pokémon know the move as possible.

Also, it looks like I missed a few things. There is a shop owner that talks about bicycles, so I make a point to talk to him. Riding Pokémon has since replaced the bicycle, so these are just for show. However, talking to him will give five Heart Scales, which can be used much later on. There's also another Coach Trainer here, but he can't be found until near the end of the game. With all that out the way, time to head to the next area.

The next route has several new faces. There's Vulpix (Pixie), Abra (Magic), and Jigglypuff (Singer). Abra's at a high enough level where I can get it to its final form right away, so I resolve to do so. Furthermore, I catch a couple Vulpix for something later on. I also start catching two of the same species as long as they evolve by stones. The reason for this is Pokémon that evolve by stones stop learning moves. But one can get evolution stones much faster than it would take to evolve Pokémon. So for the sake of completing the Dex, I need to evolve instantly.

Which means I also need to get another Oddish.

I try to find one online, but that fails. Hilariously, I also get more than bargained for, as people are nice enough to give me the trade evolutions for all but one Pokémon (Machamp). I'm planning on getting them myself eventually, but it's nice not to depend on others for Dex completion so early on. It's just as well, because I can use the Bellsprout I caught for the trade to get its final form without messing anything up. I also take the time to capture some more Meowth, as I will need them for an event later.

Now it's time to continue heading down the route. There's the Day Care Center, where Pokémon can be leveled up in exchange for money, but the Trainer has no control over what moves they learn. I feel like it's a bit useless now, because of the way the experience system works and how it allows multiple Pokémon to level up easily. In other games, Pokémon could breed to produce new ones at Day Care Centers. However, since the feature did not exist in the originals, it does not exist here. It did exist in the other remakes, but only after the main game was completed. Without breeding, the main appeal of the Day Care Center is gone. So now I just head past it.

Also, there's another encounter with Trace here. Unlike in the originals, it's impossible to head to Saffron City earlier than needed (although that took some prior knowledge, and the game still treated the player as going there when they were supposed to). So Trace instead directs the player to the Underground. Also, it appears the extra S.S ticket was for him after all… It makes him appearing on the S.S Anne later feasible, because there's no explanation how Blue got there in the original. I suppose it could have just gotten a ticket before the whole transformation fiasco, but are not sure if Bill would have freely given one out… If there's one thing this game is good at, it's clearing up things that didn't make sense in the original.

Also, there is a new Trainer with a Quick Attacking Eevee. He gives Damien a bit of trouble, but is still defeated. It's also interesting, because this is the first I noticed that any Eevee will say its name in battle, just like Pikachu in the original and more recent games. I wonder if this will carry over to the main ones. I hope it does. Eevee deserves more popularity… Also, Chase learns Thunderbolt. This would be the point where I'd evolve him, but it'll be a while before I get the stones. Guess I'm stuck with his bad defenses a while longer…

Anyway, I finally make it to Vermillion City.

I'm expecting a few things to be changed, and I'm not disappointed. One is that since the bike is not used, there is no bike voucher. Instead, there is a set of clothing that makes the player character look like their partner Pokémon. I don't plan on using it, unfortunately. The second is the absence of the fishing rod. Fishing isn't in this game, so Magikarp is harder to find. If I hadn't picked up one earlier, this is normally where I could fish for one. However, it appears to be even later in this game… I wonder where Magikarp is located now. The third thing is Squirtle. In the original, it was available after getting the city's Gym Badge. In this game, that Pokémon is available after 60 successful catches. I quickly name it Sunglass, as a reference to the anime when Ash's Squirtle often wore sunglasses. There are also other Pokémon to get. There's a Hiker that trades Alolan Geodude for Kanto ones, but I don't have anything extra to give him. I will soon, though. There's also a woman who, if the player catches five Growlithe or Meowths after speaking to her and depending on their version, will give the player either an Arcanine or a Persian. I quickly take her up on that offer, because Arcanine is version exclusive otherwise, and I only have one Growlithe. I then name the newcomer Arc.

The first order of business is Diglett's Cave. I catch one of the aforementioned Pokémon (Spy) and another for an event later on. Next is Route 11 to the east, where there are many new Trainers and Pokémon. A surprisingly durable Rattata has Super Fang and Crunch. Chase is taken down to half health, and Music survives with only one HP. Eventually, though I am able to beat him and the reward is 5 Eevee candies. They can be used to make Eevee stronger, and I immediately feed them to Dia. She needs extra stats to keep up with the rest of the team, and no one else can currently benefit.

Drowzee (Dream) and Mr. Mime (Jester) are the new additions here. I also catch a Raticate, but it does not stay with me. Also, Music learns Body Slam, a much-needed upgrade from before. My next area is the SS Anne, but I think I will stop here for now. That area is long, and I don't want to rush into it.


	4. Perspective Flip

4\. Perspective Flip

It's a fine day for Let's Go, so it's time to move out!

A few updates first, though.

These updates involve my team. Originally, I didn't have most of my team set, and wasn't going to until pretty late in the game. However, thanks to the early movesets used in Let's Go, Pokémon found later in the game often will be unable to learn any moves on their own. Move relearning does exist in this game, but it's not until the very last area. It's a long way to go with what's essentially a crippled team. Furthermore, I have read that the game starts getting a difficulty spike around the second half. I'm approaching that half, so I'm going to run into it soon. If the player hasn't been using the catching mechanics to gain experience, or the candies earned from them, they're going to have difficulty. And with the setup I was hoping to use, I wasn't going to utilize my candies until well into the second half. Furthermore, Trainers purposely don't give much experience in the game, to encourage the player to use the newer mechanics. So there's not much I can do to compensate.

With that being said, my team should be mostly finalized around the time the second half starts. I say mostly because there's one Pokémon that appears after it starts, but I'm unsure I will be able to get it in time to use it for most of the game. I have a backup plan and will use another Pokémon normally as a result.

With all that in mind, it's time to make progress.

Time to visit the SS Anne. As soon as I get to the docks, I'm handed a set of clothes for sailors.

They look adorable, and I love the blue colors, so I put them on immediately. Also pretty fitting, considering I have an affinity for water, and family that has owned boats in real life…

But enough about me.

Time to go in.

Trace's here, and so is Blue. It appears Team Rocket might be around… I wonder if there might be a recreation of what happened in the anime… That arc was one of my favorites, if a bit terrifying… Anyway, now's the time to battle.

The ship is mostly unchanged, although Trace's out on the deck. Apparently he gets seasick… I think that's the first time any main character in any medium ever had that weakness… Of course, the original game actually did have someone getting seasick to the point of getting physically sick… I wonder if that will be Trace here… Also, there's an extra scene where one can get a view of the ship and the ocean with their partner if they go to the very front of the boat… It looks well done, but it doesn't seem to do much… Also, found out while battling that the animation for Body Slam is hilarious… The animations may not be top-notch, but they are amusing and adorable enough…

And there's another battle with Trace… Too bad Dia's Move Tutor moves do super effective damage to just about everything on his team at this point (Pikachu, Oddish, and Pidgeotto).

Time to head to the ship captain.

And his scene is completely unchanged from the original… I swear, out of all of the scenes in the original game, this one made the least sense, not to mention being a little unsettling… Why couldn't the developers have altered it?

However, there is a gameplay aspect that has changed.

In the original and the previous remakes, the player had to teach Hidden Machines to their Pokémon, and have these Pokémon in the active party in order to travel the overworld. The Hidden Machines could be constantly deleted and relearned, but required getting to a special person to do so much later on in the game. The original games also could not delete Hidden Machines, instead requiring Pokémon to be transferred to the newer games and back.

Luckily, Let's Go Eevee has a solution to all this.

Secret Techniques.

Secret Techniques are taught to the player's partner, allowing the player to always travel the overworld regardless of what Pokémon they have in their party. These Secret Techniques do not take up a move slot, but as a trade-off, they cannot be used in battle at all. In way, they are similar to the Ride Pokémon of the Alola games. I'm glad Hidden Machines are gone, but I think it would be kind of cool if the player could use them in battle somehow… Especially because it's implied some of them can be… Alas…

The first Secret Technique is Chop Down, replacing the move Cut in the overworld.

Now that I have the Secret Technique, it's time to do a little backtracking. There is an entrance to the areas at the beginning of the game, and I can head through there to get some more items, and pick up things I missed before. Said entrance requires going through Diglett's Cave and using the Secret Technique as soon as I get out of it. Also, there's a new cutscene of the player's partner saying goodbye to the people on the ship. Mina from the Alola games makes a cameo as well… She's a bit younger here, but it appears she hasn't changed otherwise… Still spacey as ever… Standing right next the ship and missed it anyway… And that's not even going into the other unfortunate implications her character has… But that's neither here nor there…

Now it's time for one last round of backtracking before taking on the Gym.

Or not. It seems I can't do that until I challenge the gym. Odd, but okay…

Lieutenant Surge's title was changed from Lightning American to Lightning Lieutenant. It makes sense, considering Pokémon has been trying to avoid real world direct references in favor of explaining that it's in its own world. On the other hand, I liked the iconic old title, and the new one is a bit redundant.

Also, it appears there's no extra requirement for challenging the gym. Learning Chop Down was the only thing needed, and then successfully using it… It's odd, considering the player would have to do it no matter what, but it is what it is.

Also, Lieutenant Surge's Gym is home to the one of the most infamous puzzles in Pokémon history. In this puzzle, the player has to search the garbage cans to find switches. The switches are placed randomly. One player finds a single switch, the second switch will be right next to it.

However, the second switch can be in any of the four cardinal directions, with no telling which one. If the player guesses wrong, the traps will reset and be completely randomized again…

Needless to say, this Gym frustrated many a player… So it will probably be simplified here… I noticed two of the cans are color-coded… I have a feeling I know what that means, but I want to be wrong…

And it seems I am at least a little wrong… The colored trash cans act as markers, with the first switch always being next to the blue trashcan… The second one is right next to that switch, but there's still no guide as to which switch it's next to…

Which means the red trashcan is there to fake players out…

And I completely fall for the trap… Multiple times.

So the redesigned puzzle is still frustrating, for an entirely different reason…

Anyway, Lieutenant Surge is up next.

In the original Yellow Version, he had only a Raichu. However, said Raichu had much higher levels and more powerful moves than the player had access to at that point. Red and Blue versions used more Pokémon, but there were lower leveled. This team seems to use the original version of Surge, because he starts with Voltorb. Voltorb gets off Light Screen and Thunderbolt, but ultimately falls to Chase's Dig. His next Pokémon is Magnemite, but it doesn't even launch one attack…

His last Pokémon is Raichu. Raichu uses Quick Attack and Thunderbolt. Dig also doesn't do as much damage against it… Surprisingly, I am faster. Even more surprisingly, Chase takes what would have been fatal blow with one HP… Perhaps the Pokémon Refresh effects are just from traveling… I'm not sure how I feel about that, considering these effects are quite powerful… Regardless, I quickly heal, and Chase uses Dig… Raichu almost destroys it with Thunderbolt and Double Kick. Thankfully, I still have items… One more attack takes him down after that…

And Lieutenant Surge gives the player his autograph… Which is hilarious considering I actually do have a book full of soldier's autographs in real life… Surge also gives out Thunderbolt. Rose and Music learn the move, while Chase already knows that from leveling up. Sushi can also learn it, but I'm going to try and limit the amount of special attacks he learns.

With that, I can finally backtrack.

Also, Misty's here in order to show the way to Diglett's Cave. She also heals my Pokémon automatically, which thankfully saves time.

Now I must head back.

The first thing is to pick up the Secret Technique Light Up. This replaces Flash, and makes Rock Tunnel a lot less annoying to traverse… The scene here doesn't make much sense, but I'll go with it… Also, the original games had the player needing to have captured 10 Pokémon species before getting the move. That requirement seems to have been removed here… Which is good, because it was annoying… Trace's here too, and he offers to take me directly to Rock Tunnel. It's nice for those that want it, because it's a fair distance away otherwise. However, I'm not one of them, so I decline his offer.

Also, I find a Leaf Stone. Too bad no one can use it yet… But that will change eventually… The first order of business is to head back to Viridian and capture a second Pikachu. I'm going to need to evolve it for something later. The second thing is to grab an Old Amber from the back of the museum in Pewter. It leads to a powerful Pokémon, although the Pokémon doesn't appear until much later on. The next order of business is to get some hidden Moon Stones. They allow Ike to reach his final form, and my spare Jigglypuff to evolve. And the final task is to grab an Alolan Geodude from the trade before. I quickly do all that and move forward.

At last, I'm back at Cerulean. I do make a quick stop first, though. One is to restock on Great Balls, and the other is to check out new items. They do have Full Heals, which is a significant upgrade. Revives are also here, but they're expensive. I decide not to spend cash on them, because the place where I'm going next is a lot of items to buy.

Now, onto the next route.

The Trainers aren't anything special, but I do have my first instance of Self-Destruct. That move is quite strong, and I don't have anything that can resist it currently in my party. So I will have to be careful. Damien also learns Dragon Rage, an upgrade over Seismic Toss. Krabby (Crableg) is the only new catch here. I catch a Fearow, but I immediately release it.

But suddenly, there's a new cutscene.

Rockets ambush me by the Pokémon Center, intent on getting revenge for what happened earlier on. There are four of them until now, and who knows how many more there will be…

But then, a red haired woman shows up.

She takes out some of the Rockets, leaving me to take out the remaining one.

Thankfully, it's an easy fight.

After this, the woman introduces herself as Lorelei of Elite Four. I have to say, I don't really like her redesigned appearance. I feel like it's a bit too risqué when Lorelei is meant to have a more professional air…

I suppose that this scene is meant to represent what happens in Sevii in the previous remakes, because those islands have been removed entirely from this one. I have quite a bit to say about that, but I will get to it later. For now, I have to say I really enjoyed that scene. It's nice to have the protagonists in some real danger in the games, because they hardly ever seem to be…

On a side note, I think I'm going to just start giving my team candy now… Looking at movesets, I think the Pokémon I want to get may still be too late for good moves until the relearner… Furthermore, the Pokémon is a bit frail, and may not fit into my team composition anyway… As it is, the Typing isn't very good, and the moves it can learn also aren't that great initially… With how late the game the Pokémon comes, I'm not sure I want to wait. Furthermore, due to the way my team is designed, I may not be able the use the newcomer to its full potential, which would be a shame… Not to mention I'm repeating some types and weaknesses if I use it. I can make another decision when I get to the place where the team member is, but for now, I may as well increase my other team members' stats to prepare for the road ahead…

And it's a good thing I do, because the next opponent is one of the tougher Coach Trainers. She has a Poliwhirl that is fond of Hypnosis and a Primeape. Both Pokémon know Brick Break, a powerful Fighting Type move with the ability to break down opponents' barriers. It's also much stronger than what I currently have. I teach at Damien, and everyone but Sushi and Dia can learn it.

Now, time to enter Rock Tunnel.

There are many new Pokémon here, so it's a good time to catch things and train. I also need to restock my candy supply, so I Pokémon can keep eating it like it's Halloween. Something particularly noteworthy is Kangaskhan, which is a very powerful Pokémon, but has only 1% appearance rate. Unfortunately, it only appears here, so I have to make sure I spend enough time looking for it…

Like in the originals, this place is completely black. Unlike in the originals, the game will prompt you to use Light Up/Flash immediately. With that, the area is completely visible and free to explore like every other cave.

And there are many new Pokémon to be had. There's Cubone (Luces), Rhyhorn (Ryan), Machop (Luchadora), Kangaskhan (Bear), a Graveler that evolves into Golem (Boombox), and an unnamed Golbat that doesn't stay. A second Cubone is caught for something later, Dynamite and Sunglass evolve once, my Alolan Golem evolves twice thanks to someone helping me with an Internet trade, and the Bellsprout that I caught earlier on evolved twice using the Leaf Stone I got earlier and the experience gained from the fights. Several other Pokémon were caught and candy was received. For the curious, it took me about 10 catches to encounter Kangaskhan, but I was lucky enough to get on my first try.

It's really now that I'm starting to notice the flaws of the game, though.

Specifically, the catching system.

It's fine for catching regular Pokémon, if a bit annoying. But for training, it's terrible. It still increases the luck factor, and makes some battles much harder than they need to be. A good example this is Golbat. Typically, it's common to find and easy to defeat. Being an evolved Pokémon, it also gives a lot of experience points.

In this game, encounters with that are anything but easy. Golbat instead flies around quickly on the screen, occasionally thrusting out wings to attack the player and deflect their shots. The fact that it flies high also means the player can't catch the Pokémon from the default Switch position, and has to try and aim their controller up somehow before even making a throw (or before the opponent starts moving). To make things worse, the catch rate is rather low, and the only way to increase the catch rate is to use Razz Berries. And those are in limited supply at this point, especially when there are rare catches around. So all this turns something that would normally be pretty doable and not a huge waste of time or resources into something very resource intensive that goes on for a long time.

Furthermore, I used almost all my Balls despite catching only about 10 to 15 Pokémon. And it takes up unnecessary resources even if I did everything well, because battling wild Pokémon is easy in this particular area since there is a Center right there. And many of the trainees still had trouble gaining experience, especially those that were near the level of my regular team. It's a lot of time and energy spent on something that really should not have been all that consuming or difficult. And it gives little reward, since my main team couldn't use many candies because I didn't have many successful catches. It's frustrating because what keeps the experience fresh also serves as a major weak point.

I'd still like to finish the game though.

So I move on through Rock Tunnel.

There's a tough Trainer with a Kangaskhan, and he injures Music. However, Sushi learns Dragon Tail, a powerful move that forces the opponent to switch out upon landing. Furthermore, it's effective against other Dragon Types, which will prove useful much later on. Music also learns Moonblast, and is finally ready to evolve into Clefable. The Trainers here are nothing special, although they do injure Sushi a couple times since he takes them on pretty much by himself. Also worth noting that beating the Ace Trainers gives me Ultra Balls, a considerable upgrade from what I had before. Hopefully I can buy them soon.

I capture some more Pokémon for training as I make my way out of the cave. It's important that everyone hits level 30, and they succeed. The main reason is that starting with level 30, Pokémon can be fed larger candies. These larger candies give a greater boost to stats, as long as a Pokémon is a high enough level. So I can now disperse them freely.

I've finally at Lavender Town, one of my favorite places in the franchise. The music here is still kind of creepy, but also peaceful in a way. It's rather eerie, but soothing at the same time… I also noticed that the developers omitted anyone directly mentioning the Rockets kill Pokémon… I know that's probably because the game's meant for a younger audience, and felt very out of place in the original game anyway, but it makes it even creepier… It makes the inevitable reveal all the more shocking, otherwise… Kind of like what happened with AZ in the Kalos games. Anyway, I'm greeted by a cutscene of Trace chasing after a Cubone. Anyways, after buying and restocking, it seems Trace's is headed towards Pokémon Tower. I decide to follow him.

It turns out he wants a battle, but Type advantages are once again his doom. He has the same Pokémon as before, but his starter evolved. Interesting that his can evolve but mine can't… It's the same for the opposite version as well. It was that way in the original too, oddly enough…

Anyway, after beating Trace I decide to not go any further. I could get experience from the Trainers here, but currently I cannot ascend to the tower's top, nor can I capture any Pokémon. So the only thing to do now is leave.

Also, I just got a comment about how cool the graphics are… Despite the game's flaws, they really do a fantastic job with it, even though this wasn't made by the main team at Gamefreak. And this is just a side game… I can only imagine what their main game next year will be like…

But enough about that. On to Route 8.

And here's where I'm noticing the level spike… It's not enough to really give me a massive challenge, but it's enough to make me heal more and make sure all of my Pokémon finish the battle to receive experience. It's a good thing I read about that, because I can see why players would need to use the candy…

Also, I got a Fire Stone. Time for my Vulpix to evolve…

And there's a level 35 Seaking with Horn Drill coming out of nowhere… I predict I'm going to have to use a Revive… Thankfully, that's not the case, as Headbutt gets its flinch chance. There's also a Rhyhorn the same level, but Scald makes short work of it. Speaking of Scald, Sushi finally gets a better move in the form of Waterfall. The move is not only stronger, but also runs off of Sushi's physical attack stat. Since this stat is about twice as high as his Special Attack, it sure to do a lot more damage.

I head out of the underground.

And come face-to-face with an Ace Trainer.

Unfortunately, I have trouble with her Raichu when using Rose, so it looks like I might need to train… It's just as well, because there is a special Pokémon on the route and one of the rare ones… It also happens to be my favorite in this generation... There's also a Coach Trainer with a Façade wielding Farfetch'd. The thing almost defeats Damien… Farfetch'd is one of the weakest Pokémon in the series, so I'm having trouble with that, I really need to train… The Trainer gives out Façade, unsurprisingly. It's a good move, but I'm not teaching it to anyone right now. Also worth knowing that I forgot that the Façade's power is doubled if the opponent is afflicted by status condition… I decide to use Dia's instant paralysis move midway through the battle and my opponent survived… Luckily, I got the last hit in before my foe attacked again. The plus side is that I finally got to use Waterfall in this battle. I have to say the animation is beautiful…

Now I'm finally at Celadon, city of greenery.

I love that it's a giant city and yet it still has forests and other beautiful plants. If Pokémon are real, that would probably be where I would like to live, because it's got the best of both worlds. Either that or Saffron, because I love psychics.

I probably won't visit any more than the Pokémon Center, but there is some significant changes.

There is a medium in one of the corners. For a price, she will foretell the natures of wild Pokémon the player has yet to meet. For 24 hours, Pokémon with the nature that she foresees will be more common. Not too useful to me, but great for anyone doing competitive battling. There's also another Move Tutor here. He can teach Dia either Dark or Psychic Type equivalents of the moves she currently has. Along with doing a lot of damage, they also weaken foes' physical or special attacks, depending on the move. I pick the dark type, because it is a significant upgrade over Bite.

That's all for now. Next time, training, a new Pokémon, and exploring Celadon.


	5. The Lone Ranger

5\. The Lone Ranger

And off to another fun time with Let's Go Eevee! Time to enter the latter half of the game.

Also, the catching system reminds me of Pokémon Ranger. Funnily enough, I got frustrated at that for the same reasons… Well, it was really because I couldn't work with the motion controls… At least this catching system allows the player to turn most of those controls off by using the Switch without the joysticks removed… In Pokémon Ranger, there was no way around it… Maybe that was part of the reason why the series didn't do well… I'm a side note, now I can't stop seeing the protagonist of this game as a Pokémon Ranger… Perhaps that should be my Trainer class? It would be an interesting thought…

Also, good news on my version exclusives. It turns out the person I was willing to trade with no longer needs my version exclusive, Pinsir and will trade me Scyther for something else. It's great for me, because I'm still a bit far from where Pinsir is, and that way I don't have to rush… I caught a few Kangaskhan while I was training before, so hopefully that goes through… Furthermore, I'm hoping I can get an extra of the version exclusives that can evolve, because I need them for something later… But it seems I have to wait until later in the day, because from what I can understand, we may be in different time zones…

Whatever the case, it's time to explore Celadon.

Also, it looks like Brock is here. He gives us the Tea needed to get into Saffron, along with a snack from Pewter. Said snack heals all status conditions, and there are similar snacks in the previous games. It's also funny that the girls in Celadon didn't want to let Brock enter the Gym… It reminds me a lot of his personality in the anime, where his weakness was his love of girls and the fact that was a hopeless romantic… Not to mention Erika is said to be beautiful…

Of course, it could also be a throwback to the original games, where the girls acted surprised when the male player character entered. The player character always had to be a boy, so those lines would always trigger. However, in the remakes, because the player character could be a boy or girl, viewing those lines was optional. Also interesting was that the game was originally going to be programmed to allow the player character to play as either gender, but that got taken out. Probably in the interest of space…

Also knowing that I really like how they are developing the Gym Leaders more in this game. The closest they ever got to getting more development was in the Johto remakes, and that was after most of the game was cleared… The previous Kanto remakes didn't do any extra development, because they were incredibly faithful to the original script, for the better or the worse. The only thing is that I would say having an old lady give the player Tea made even more sense to me… Probably because I'm reminded of a similar scene in Pokémon Black and White…

Regardless, time to move on.

In the originals and the previous remakes, the player could get an Eevee in the back of the apartment building. Since Eevee is now available in the wild later on, and has a chance of being the player's starter Pokémon, the move Play Rough is there instead. Play Rough is a powerful physical Fairy Type move that has a chance of lowering the target's attack stat. Considering what happens later on in the game, I need all the Fairy moves I can get. I rapidly teach it to Rose. Also, I love that the owner of the apartment on the rooftop breaks the fourth wall by saying that the world can be found inside the Nintendo Switch. I know the majority of the cast also breaks the fourth wall inside the apartment, because this is where the developers live, but it's still funny.

Also, I finally move on to the department store. The TMs here are excellent, but also expensive. I will probably come back when I have some more money.

Instead, I'm here for something else.

Evolution stones.

The first generation is also the first of the games in which evolution stones can be bought in stores, something which would continue on in almost every other game. They're a bit expensive, but well worth it. Also worth noting that a stone called the Ice Stone is here as well. That's a stone that was not seen in either the originals or the previous remakes. It has a very specific purpose, so I will grab two of them for now. I also grab enough stones for the rest of the game, evolving Chase and the spare Pikachu that I'm saving for later. Also, the game reminds me that Dia can't evolve when I get here… Not that she needs to…

Also, customization returns in full force on the last floor. There are countless different things I can get for both the player character and my partner. Since I'm focusing on the stones and a few other things for now, I will come back later. However, since I love customization, I probably will go and buy everything they have eventually. Also noting the game doesn't let the player see what they're wearing before buying it, unlike previous games in the series featuring customization. A bit annoying, if you ask me…

Also, I make it to the top of the department store. This is the main reason why I wanted to save my money. There's an item called Lemonade here that's a bit more powerful than a regular Super Potion, but about half the cost. It's worth buying as many as I can. Also, there's a cute little scene that serves the tutorial for how to use a vending machine in this game. It's also interesting, because I feel like it's a throwback. In the remakes before this, it was explained that Pokémon could also enjoy the drinks from the vending machines. However, the player could never give their Pokémon a drink outside of battle, so it only worked just like every other medicine.

In the tutorial scene, the player's partner has a drink from the vending machine. It's a great way to alert players an easily missed mechanic while the same time connecting to previous games, and expanding the lore overall. Also, in the previous games, there's a little girl that will give the player TMs if they buy her a drink. They're defensive moves this time around, so I doubt I will use them. It's still worth having them in case I do, though.

Also worth noting that I give the Tea to the guard at the gate. That gives me access to Saffron. This scene never made any sense in the original, and it still doesn't make sense here. Why would someone block off the city just because they were thirsty? Any authority would be on them in a second. I suppose they could be working for Team Rocket, but it's not known when the incident with them takes place, and I think they would be suspicious if they stayed in the city for too long… At least the original mentioned something about a road being closed, which makes a bit more sense... Still not by much, though, because a drink would not solve that…

I'm in Saffron now, but there's not much I can do here. I can still grab a powerful Psychic TM, and do that. It's a very good move for Rose, who otherwise does not learn Psychic until near the end of the game. Also, the copycat girl quest is available now. Since Poké Dolls don't really have a use in this game (since they guaranteed one could run from a fight, but running is already guaranteed by the new capture system), the player instead has to show Copycat her favorite Pokémon to complete the quest.

And her favorite Pokémon happens to be Clefairy.

If only I'd waited a little longer to evolve Music…

Lucky for me, there should be something that'll allow me to get Clefairy pretty easy.

But I can't get it now.

What I can get is a bunch of Alolan Pokémon. Raichu, Vulpix, and Diglett are all available now. What's worth noting is that Vulpix is a version exclusive, and if I were playing the Pikachu version, I would've been able to get Sandshrew. I try to look for the other online a bit, but I can't find the other Pokémon. It's worth noting that the Alolan Forms don't count towards completing the Dex, but it's nice having them regardless. Also worth noting that Alolan Vupix doesn't have the best moveset, so I evolve it immediately.

After that, it's time for training and getting the new Pokémon.

Unfortunately, things are not easy. I have to use my lure and my catch combos, but I'm not very lucky. I end up using all my regular Balls, almost all of my lures, and have my catch combos broken three times by Pokémon running away. After about catch seven Pidgetto, I finally encounter the Pokémon I've been looking for.

Porygon.

For a long time, my favorite.

A Pokémon made entirely out of shapes.

One I was enamored with when I first started playing.

It took a long time, but it's finally here.

Thankfully, it comes easily with an Ultra Ball and some Razz Berries. Also thankfully, all the training has left my team in the mid 30s, and Damien reaches his final form. So I'm about as strong as the strongest Trainers on the route. Hopefully that's not too much… Also worth noting that Damien learns Wing Attack upon evolving. Well, if I am too strong, the scaled experience system will catch up with me… Also, there are a lot of boss battles coming up, so I'd better be ready.

And my Switch decides to freeze as I go to turn the game off in order take a break… Thankfully, forcing it to shut down remedies that…

Fortunately, something else happens.

The person I'm hoping to trade with gets back to me, and they have almost everything I need. The only thing they don't have is Grimer, because it's near the end of the game and neither of us have reached that point. And the other person requests only two Ekans and an Alolan Vulpix. It's a bit of backtracking, but still a simple request. And it doesn't take long to get the Pokémon, now that Saffron's open. Rapidly, I perform the trade, now finally owning almost all the elusive version exclusives. Not to mention I also have extras, so I can perform that later sidequest in full if I want. For now, I just use my Ice Stone to evolve the Alolan Sandshrew I received. It adds another page to my Dex because I haven't trained up my regular ones yet.

Speaking of training, I should get back to that.

So I go until I run out of Great Balls, training my spare Pokémon along the way. I'm hoping to eventually get my Machop evolved, although it's still a few levels behind. Mainly because it's one of the few trade evolutions I have left. I also start leveling up my traded Pokémon, or at least the ones I plan to use for the Dex. Now that I have extras, it's an option. Finally, I use the remaining candy to boost my regular team as much as I can. Where I'm going, I will need it…

Because my next destination is the Game Corner. It's inaccessible now, but several people can be seen playing at the slots. Most of them seem to be much older as well. Even though Game Corners were made inaccessible because of stricter gambling laws, I have to say I like the change. From a narrative standpoint, having casinos accessible to young Trainers never made sense. This is because in real life, casinos are regulated so that no one under 18 can play (at least, legally). Furthermore, casinos are rather unpleasant places with constant darkness, filthiness, and the threat of addiction being very real… The Pokémon lore even makes a reference of this with Grimsely, an Elite Four who lost pretty much everything he had from a gambling addiction…

Gameplay wise, it's something I really disdained. It's completely luck based, with no way to really increase chances. And several Pokémon and good moves are locked behind it. The most (im) famous is Porygon, the Pokémon I caught earlier. For a long time, Porygon could only be gotten if the player gambled in the casino and maxed out their game coins (although later games still allowed the player to go even higher than what was required for Porygon). One of the games also introduced an alternative solution, but it was tedious at best. And despite being rare, Porygon wasn't very strong and wouldn't be until years later, when it gained the ability to evolve… Not to mention just like in real life casinos, it was fairly easy for the player to run out of money gambling… All for just a few Pokémon or moves… It was quite pointless, so I appreciate the removal no matter the reason… However, I wonder if casinos would have eventually been removed anyway… They seem to have been getting phased out even before the restrictions tightened on gambling… For example, in the Game Boy Advance generation of games, casinos only offered TMs for prizes. Players could find the TMs by playing through game normally regardless, and it was entirely possible to just beat the games without them. So I wonder how much longer the casinos would've existed as a game mechanic, because of the sheer impracticality of it all…

Regardless, time to go storm this one.

After a cutscene in Lavender, that is.

It appears that I actually have to go up to the second floor. It's this floor that introduces the ghost mechanic, and it's been completely revamped. In the original games, contact with a ghost initiated a fight that was unwinnable, and the player could only escape. However, they could still continue to the tower and fight the Trainers there. Once the tower's top, however, they would be greeted by another ghost that would refuse to let them proceed. Without exploiting a glitch present only in the original games, the player would find themselves locked into an impossible fight, and had no choice but to leave the tower. Furthermore, the player could not catch any Pokémon even if they beat all the Trainers in the tower, nor could the ghost be repelled by items that normally reduced encounter rates.

These games changed the ghost encounters entirely so that any contact with a ghost sends the player immediately back to the first floor. It's a pretty strong deterrent for trying to do the rest of the tower, because running into one accidentally resets all the progress made. And since the glitch is no longer present in these games, the player still can't get to the top anyway. I imagine that this was put in place to avoid players accessing the tower and obtaining almost everything there much earlier than they were supposed to. It would make a lot of sense, because it was entirely possible for the player to do that, even on accident. And there's really no reason for the ghosts to go up there, so it becomes just a waste of time…

Also, I think the ghosts of the tower are starting to manifest in the real world. My word-processing and voice-recognition programs crashed twice, and then my Internet browser crashed that I was using as a guide… Are the ghosts haunting my computer? Or is it my Switch? Either way, it's not funny… It's actually kind of creepy that I should have mechanical issues at this specific part…

Anyway, I get out of the tower, only to witness the Team Rocket trio tricking the Cubone from before into following them to Celadon. It's called an abduction, but I'm not sure can be called that if Cubone is following them of its own free will, and they're not putting in any danger at that point… It's actually something I could see one of them doing legitimately if only they had taken different sides… Especially James… Or even one of the other Rockets… Domino comes to mind, even with the little screen time she got…

Anyway, now I can finally follow them and storm the Game Corner…

The Team Rocket Trio is playing games and it's hilarious... I quite literally sneak right past them… Whoever wrote the script really nailed their personalities, and it's great… It's completely something they would do…

Anyway, the hideout itself got a massive redesign, and it looks great… It kind of reminds me of the castle from Ultra Sun and Moon. Perhaps it was inspired by it… Anyway, I get another clothing set from someone who's trying to spy on Team Rocket… It allows me to dress up as them… And it's awesome… Hands down, this is the outfit I'm going to go with for the rest of the game, aside from anything that will fill the partner Pokémon's missing slots… It reminds me of a scene where the player character has to dress up as a Team Rocket member in Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver. Their disguise gets foiled a few minutes later, but it's still really cool. Not to mention the other characters are actually terrified of them, and considering it's very late in the game that this happens, they should be… I wish that outfit would've been kept, but my wishes are fulfilled here…

Now off to continue destroying things. And destroy I do… I'm about five or six levels above my opponents, and I'm utterly demolishing them… I think I may leveled up too much, or used too much candy from my captures… Whoops… Then again, this game is supposed to be pretty easy, so I should have expected something like this… Therefore, I'm just enjoying the story and going along for the ride… Perhaps that's the best way to experience a game like this…

On another note, the infamous sliding panels are still there, but they run much more smoothly than they did in both the original and the previous remakes. It's a welcome change, considering it could be difficult to see what was going on in those games… Also, there's a new element to the Lift Key where the guard throws the aforementioned item up on a platform… I have to go retrieve it somehow, but that doesn't seem to be any easy way… There's a floor I left unexplored, so maybe I will find clues there… Also, the TM for Rest is here, but it's not a move I want to teach to any of my Pokémon…

After bit of running around and exploring everything, I finally figure out what I need to do… It turns out that the next step is triggered by talking to the Rocket again. Doing so prompts the player to notice an air duct on top of the walls… After figuring out they can use the chair as a stepstool, they send their partner crawling through the air duct to go get the key and access the elevator.

And I love it all.

The thought of an Eevee or Pikachu crawling through the air duct to go to the key is awesome and cool by itself (Eevee or Pikachu assassins/spies, anyone? Perhaps Metal Gear Pokémon?). But the fact that they finally included a Pokémon only segment after years of not having them outside of certain mini games is excellent. I feel like it really brings the world to life after showing it so dependent on Pokémon… And it also shows that they're not mindless creatures that simply follow human commands…

Also gives a good idea of a story involving the encounter with Lorelei, Team Rocket, and this… A way of it going badly, perhaps, and the partner has to figure out what they need to do to rescue their Trainer…

Nonetheless, I finally get the key and head back to the hideout... Also noticing that the final scene where my partner, Dia, jumps down after getting the key uses the shortened version of my character's name, rather than what I inputted before… I'm guessing there needed to be some character limitations for some reason. Maybe to make the whole thing one line and easier to read… For me it makes sense, because the short version of my name is an actual name, but I wonder what would happen if it in cases where that isn't true…

I finally access the elevator and battle some of the grunts on the other floors… Oddly, one of them has a Gastly, a Pokémon that can't be seen right now because I don't have the Silph Scope… And as far as I know, their leader didn't pass it on any of the grunts… So how did this person get a ghost? No one had the ghosts until later on in the originals…

Regardless, I move on.

It's time to battle the Team Rocket trio once again… They have the evolved forms of their Pokémon this time, but still no Meowth… Which is odd, because I know at this point he was fighting in the originals… Then again, it's actually a more accurate depiction to the anime, because in that, Meowth learn human customs. However, he sacrificed battling skill, and thus couldn't fight too well at all when forced into combat. He was able to command other Pokémon to fight for him, though, provided the need arose and they were willing… Fighting against a Pokémon commanding others… That would be interesting…

But that's neither here nor there.

The Team Rocket trio are easily beaten, and hilariously scared off by Dia… It's hilarious, but also makes sense, because they heard her before when she was rummaging around... Of course, the thought it was their Meowth…

Speaking of Dia, I'd better put her up front…

I'm expecting to face Giovanni here, but instead a younger Archer makes a cameo and challenges me first… Interesting, and once again another brilliant example of foreshadowing… Especially for those that played the sequels… Speaking of the sequels, I wonder if they will show up as part of Let's Go someday… Considering that their remake was far less faithful to the originals than Kanto's, and probably contained more content than any game in the series thus far, it's sure to be interesting… Anyway, Archer only uses Poison Types, so it's nothing Rose can't handle…

And Giovanni is just as intimidating as he was in the original… It really cements what made him such a fearsome foe back when the originals first came out…

Nevertheless, the fight must go on…

He has two Pokémon instead of his three from the original. It's probably either to make the game easier, or because he had a lot of Type weaknesses because his Pokémon are all the same Type… He's also around my level, so perhaps that training was useful after all… He leads with Persian, something I did not expect and something I also don't believe he did in the original… I'm able to switch out to Damien, taking Slashes and a Fake Out before defeating the foe with Brick Break in two hits… However, Persian does injure Damien. At least this is not the original games, where Persian could get critical hits almost all the time because of its high speed… His second Pokémon is Rhyhorn, which Dia takes out with Bouncy Bubble before it even has a chance to do anything…

At last, the Cubone and the Silph Scope are mine… Also, Giovanni seems to enjoy battling worthy opponents, and acknowledges their strength. It's the softer of the two interpretations that he's been given over all of his appearances, and I can already tell it's done pretty well. I'm also looking forward to other encounters with him.

It's finally time to leave the hideout, and just in time for another Secret Technique. There is a man with a balloon machine, and he can teach the secret technique Sky Dash. Sky Dash replaces Fly, so it is extremely useful. It's also the most bizarre of the Secret Techniques seen thus far, yet ironically enough, makes the most sense…

After all that, I can finally continue on my journey.

That will have to wait, though.

It's late, so I need to rest.


	6. Forest Phantoms

6\. Forest Phantoms

Off to play with Pokémon! Hopefully no more hauntings today… Unfortunately, that's tempting fate considering where I have to go, but I must make the journey regardless…

And it starts in the Celadon Gym.

A female Gym Trainer guides the way, stating that Trainers may only enter if they have cute Pokémon in the party. I'm not sure what fits the requirements, but Music seems to qualify. I also know that Pikachu and Eevee are often considered cute by the games, so perhaps having the partner in the party would allow a player to go past… That seems little too easy, though… Then again, this game isn't exactly difficult…

And the Gym Trainers are about 10 levels below me… Looks like I really did train too much… Considering the way the game is set up, I'm not here for the difficulty, so it's bound to be enjoyable regardless…

The Gym still has the same basic premise of cutting trees to get around, but it's been redesigned. Now it also has wreaths and a garden maze, and truly does look beautiful… Whoever was in charge of the redesigns did a very good job with a lot of them…

Anyways, the grass Pokémon are easy pickings for the likes of Damien. Sushi learns Crunch here as well. Considering what's coming up next, this is immensely useful… Speaking of what's coming up next, it's not long before I make it to Erika. Hilariously, she actually falls asleep before entering the match, and she looks like she's either asleep or meditating before she sends out her first Pokémon… Pretty funny, or perhaps not, considering narcolepsy isn't all that funny… Well, for those that believe it's because of her Grass Pokémon, then maybe it is funny…

She has a Tangela and Weepinbell, like in the original game and anime. Oddly enough, she also has a Vileplume. It's strange because she didn't have that in the original game or the anime (instead, she had its previous evolution, Gloom). However, she did have a Vileplume in the original Red and Blue, as well as the previous remakes. But in those games, all of her Pokémon were fully evolved as well (Tangela being the exception, as its evolution did not exist at the time those games were made; it was fully evolved in the Johto remakes, however)… Regardless, Damien just takes them all down with Wing Attack.

In keeping with the original game, Erika gives out the move Mega Drain. It's worth noting that Mega Drain has a massive power increase in this game. The reason is that a stronger variant, Giga Drain, was introduced. When Erika appeared in later games, she handed out this move instead. However, Giga Drain is not in the game, so Mega Drain receives the increased power. Only Rose can learn the move, and I teach to her instantly. Seeing as I don't have any Pokémon that know a Grass move at this point, it will be very useful.

New items are available, including something called a Super Lure. After what happened to my Lures before, I waste no time buying them. Ultra Balls and Hyper Potions are also available. I rapidly stock up, although I only buy a few Hyper Potions. I don't need as many healing items to keep me going, since not as many battles are in this game. I also noticed that a lot of items are very inexpensive compared to their prices in other games. This is especially true for the Balls, and it's not difficult to guess why. I feel like the same thing is for healing items, but I could be wrong. I wouldn't be surprised though, considering there aren't as many battles in this game overall, but the battles can be pretty tough if someone doesn't understand the new mechanics.

Also, I catch Copycat a Clefairy to complete her request. She gives out the TM for Substitute, which is far more useful than the TM for Mimic that she gave out in the originals (or simply taught to a single Pokémon in the previous remakes). It would have been nice if I could give her the Clefairy though… I imagine players wouldn't be too keen on that idea, however, since Clefairy isn't exactly easy to catch… I wonder what the games will do if the sequels are actually made with Pokémon GO mechanics. In those games, Copycat loses the Clefairy Doll the player of the previous games gives her. Therefore, the new player character has to go find it. But since the option to give a real Clefairy isn't there, and Copycat no longer wants the doll, I'm not sure what the developers would do… And they can't skip over that event, because completing it gives an essential item for the sequels…

Yet that's neither here nor there.

What matters now is heading back to Lavender.

My next destination is the Pokémon Tower, and it appears Trace's already there. He still wants to look for Cubone, but is afraid of ghosts, especially after what he saw in the tower before… However, he's willing to go if I lead the way. It's interesting, because Trace is one of the few canonical characters that is afraid of ghosts. The only other example I can think of is Gardenia, a Gym Leader in the Sinnoh games. I also think that Blue was terrified of ghosts after visiting Pokémon Tower in the Origins anime, but that was only the fear of a specific encounter, rather than a general one. And he got over it after the events were completed.

Anyways, it's time to enter.

The only real thing to catch here is Gastly, since the other Pokémon can all be encountered earlier in the game. I catch one and name it Prankster. Gastly's finally evolved form, Gengar, was the final Pokémon I was planning to use in my team originally (boxing Dia). However, thanks to Pokémon learning moves earlier, and Gastly coming at a later level, this would not have worked well. There wouldn't have been many moves for Gastly to naturally learn at this point, and it's pretty frail. It has good Typing, but the Typing would've left me wide open to Dark and Ground attacks. Weakness to Psychic and Ghost types also would not help helped out in upcoming battles, as I will be facing Trainers with those types. Gengar has many immunities and resistances, but nothing other team members don't already have covered (especially Rose). Finally, Gengar has access to a powerful technique later on, but due to the way my team is composed, I can't use it. As for why, I will explain the specifics later on.

For now, it's time for some more training. Chansey appears here, so it's a good time to get Prankster and some of the others in reserve trained up. Machamp and Gengar are only available via trade evolution, so I'd like to get them sooner rather than later… Luckily, after about 15 Gastly and one Chansey, my Pokémon evolve. It's easy to find someone that will trade with me so they can reach their final forms. One of the Sandshrew that was traded to me also evolved during this time. Gastly are easy to catch, so I only used up about half my Ultra Balls during all this. Kind of nice, considering Gastly is usually pretty difficult to catch with normal mechanics…

There seem to be some possessed channelers here. Time to free them from their torment!

This is one of the main reasons I wanted to keep Dia on the team. The channelers here use Ghost to Pokémon, and Dia is immune to most of their attacks. Not to mention she can strike back for super effective damage… I have to say, between the raised stats and the Move Tutor moves, the developers handled the fact that the starter could not evolve very well… And the channelers look creepy as ever… It really sets the scene for the entire place... No wonder this was shown on the Halloween update… It was definitely deserving of it… Also, the animation for Baddy Bad is awesome… I'm hoping these moves make it into the main game somehow, but I'm not really sure how they would.

Also at something amusing happened where a Trainer spotted me, but wild Pokémon had just appeared in front of her before. She walked a couple steps until she was in front of the wild Pokémon, then challenged me as normal. The game started like she was next to me, so it was pretty interesting. The TM for Teleport is here, but since the move is still fairly useless, I'm not teaching it.

I'm noticing that a lot of the dialogue has been changed to refer to only Marowak's ghost, and not the wandering ghosts in general. It makes a lot more sense that way, because even though the ghosts can remain unidentified by the time the player fights the channelers, it's fairly easy to figure out what they are during these fights. And the channelers would probably be used to it if they visited a lot and the Pokémon always lived in the tower. The new dialogue makes it seem as though the Pokémon are now mischievous because Marowak's ghost has appeared. Or perhaps the appearance has made them restless. Maybe they are even helping her, because the idea of letting no one at the top of the tower was Marowak's plan originally. She wanted to make sure there were no more casualties from Team Rocket, aware they were after the tower. So maybe the ghosts wanted to possess the channelers to create more battles and make sure no one could get through. It's all just theories, but it still makes things make a lot more sense than in the originals…

Anyway, Dia continues destroying things with her Dark Type and I'm eventually treated to another cutscene. Trace's rapidly terrified of one final huge ghost that appears near the top. Luckily, I have the Silph Scope and use it here. The ghost is the revealed to be the spirit of Cubone's mother, Marowak. There's a touching scene where she has a reunion with her son before finally departing to the afterlife and allowing everyone to continue to the top of the tower.

I have to say this one the best things about the game.

I had a feeling this was coming because of the revamped mechanics, but this adds a nice touch the lore. In the original version and the previous remakes, the player had to fight the deceased Marowak and defeat her in order to ascend to the top of the tower. Capture attempts would always fail, and running from the fight would only trigger it again (well, without explaining the glitch only present in the originals). The whole thing was rather odd to me because Marowak died defending her child in battle. So how would defeating her in battle calm her down if battle was how she died? If anything it would just make her angrier… But this makes perfect sense, because now she knows her son is safe, and that the people that killed her will be stopped… It's things like this that make the game a fantastic remake… This scene was also present in the Origins anime, so maybe this game took inspiration from that… Considering the Origins anime was also done very well, I wouldn't doubt it.

Anyway, it's finally time to get to the top of the tower.

The Team Rocket trio tries to stop me and kidnap Mr. Fuji, but they're still not all that tough. Rose and Dia take care of them. Weezing has Dark Pulse to do super effective damage to Rose, but it still doesn't do all that much.

Also, the scene is a bit different in this version. In the original, Mr. Fuji explains that Team Rocket did not kidnap him, but he came to the Tower on his own. This is kept in the previous remakes. In this version, he's too busy trying to calm Marowak to notice Team Rocket standing right behind them… It takes a lot of the seriousness out of the scene by making Fuji appear absent-minded… Of course, he is pretty old by the time the story takes place, but still… It's also worth noting that in the original, Team Rocket appears about halfway up the final floor, instead of the very end. So maybe this line was added to have what happened make more sense… Still feels out of place, though… Regardless, he gives me the Poké Flute to awaken sleeping Pokémon. I rapidly stock up on more Ultra Balls, because I know exactly who I'm going to use it on.

I had to Celadon to confront the foe.

Snorlax.

However, this confrontation goes a little bit differently from the ones that I've faced thus far. I'm treated to an absolutely awesome rock remix of the original wild battle theme as Snorlax serves the tutorial for fixed encounters. Fixed encounters use the traditional battling system first, although the player cannot try to make a catch during this time. Once the opponent is defeated, the player is then taken to the Pokémon GO catching mechanism that activates automatically for all other wild battles. Also worth noting that if the player encounters a legendary Pokémon, the battles are timed for five minutes before the player has to try again. Since Snorlax is not a legendary Pokémon, there is no time limit. Both Snorlax and the legendary birds can be found endlessly after the game is cleared. I'm not sure if the special battle method applies for encountering them that way, though.

The game explains that the reason attacked was because it thought I was food… That's actually kind of creepy when one thinks about it… Regardless, Snorlax is pretty easy to beat. Damien just uses Brick Break a few times, and Snorlax doesn't do much damage back. After that, it comes easily. There's also a second Snorlax east of Vermillion, so I going capture that too. It comes easily, like the first, and I fight it the same way. Since these are the only two Snorlax I can get until much later on, I am keeping them both. Their names are Sleepover and Pillow Fight, as is fitting for a Snorlax.

With that of the way, I had for Saffron, but there's some things I need to do first.

One of which is to pay a visit to the Fighting Dojo.

Well, after seeing a cutscene of Jessie and James beating the crud out of another Team Rocket member for not letting them in… Honestly, this is a much better reason than in the originals, where the guard just fell asleep on the job for no reason at all…

But I will save that for later.

Because the Fighting Dojo awaits.

The Fighting Dojo is a place of training where the player can battle several Blackbelts. If they defeat them all, they will be able to choose either a Hitmonchan or Hitmonlee to take with them. In the originals, the other was only available via trading, a random gift after beating the Gym Leader Castle in Pokémon Stadium one, and glitches. In the remakes, the other could be gotten after the game was cleared, but it required breeding the current Pokémon and evolving the baby Tyrogue that would hatch (Tyrogue itself being difficult to evolve). The fact that the side games introduced all three of them without going through the baby form made trading even easier. In this game, they can be found in the wild in the last dungeon before the game is cleared. Both can be found regardless of what Pokémon is picked here.

It's also worth noting that the leader of the dojo doesn't use them in battle, despite him using the duo in every other game he appears in. Perhaps it's because they appear in the wild now… Regardless, Rose tears things to shreds, and I pick Hitmonchan (Piston). It's my favorite of the pair, and thanks to changed mechanics in the games after was introduced, it's a much stronger Pokémon. I still won't be using it though. Also, there's a Coach Trainer that I missed. She's also not much of a problem, giving out the TM for Thunder Punch when defeated. Although most of my team can learn it, I give it to Damien.

There's one last place to be explored before finishing up the rest of Saffron. That's the beginning of the route to the west of Celadon. Doduo (Gemini) is the only new catch on this route, although its evolved form can rarely appear. Also on this route is a Trainer gives out the TM for Fly. Also, there's a very upbeat but powerful remix of Cycling Road on the way to get the TM. I really enjoy all the music in this game so far, but this has to be one of my favorites, second to only the Kanto wild Pokémon theme. The developers really did an incredible job remixing everything to still sound excellent and like the classics, but at the same time fit well with the Switch's increased capacities. So far it's a vast improvement over the previous remakes.

And I think that's it for now. As I had back to Saffron, next time I'll be exploring the city, and taking on one of the last dungeons in the game. Hard to believe I've come this far already, but looking forward to it.


	7. Dungeon Crawling

7\. Dungeon Crawling

It's turkey day and a day for another session of Let's Go Eevee! This chapter might be a bit short, because Thanksgiving and its preparations took up a lot of the day, but I will see.

And it seems the first reviews are out! Looks like the game did well. Hopefully, that means there will be others like it.

But that's beside the point.

What matters now is the giant dungeon known as Silph.

And there's a little extra dialogue here.

The receptionist warns us that the takeover has happened is that this is no place for young Trainers to be. At that moment, Trace and Blue burst in. The receptionist recognizes Blue, and is confident about him. This also means that Blue has already made a name for himself by the time the story begins… I wonder how that affects the lore, particularly when it comes to the Pokémon League… Anyway, Trace and the player also are confident they can take the Rockets down. Blue starts forming a strategy, saying that Trace should go with me for extra power. Blue will head around the rest of the region, eradicating any enemies remaining. He also plans to warn the Pokémon League, in case the rescue attempt fails.

But there's one last thing he has to do.

And that is to see if we are strong enough to continue.

By defeating him in battle.

I have to say a marked improvement over the original. In the original and the previous remakes, Blue waited at the end of the dungeon to challenge the player. His reasoning was still the same, with him hoping the player could beat him in battle and be strong enough to take on the boss of Team Rocket. However, it still didn't make much sense, because there's no reason that Blue could not have taken on the boss of Team Rocket by himself. Especially since he came from the opposite direction. There's only one way out of the area he appears in in the originals, and it leads directly to the final battle against Team Rocket's leader. So Blue must've known Team Rocket's leader was there, or at least suspected it.

Anyway, this method is much more feasible, and it's time to battle Blue now. However, I quickly teach Damien Fly, since I forgot to do so earlier and it's stronger than what he currently has.

And this is when I realize that I'm taking on the Gyms in the wrong order. The gym after Erika is Fuchsia, with Saffron being after that. However, since Saffron and Celadon are right next to each other, I get the two confused and often think that Sabrina (Saffron's Gym Leader) is after Erika. The developers seem to realize this, because Sabrina and Koga (Fuchsia's Gym Leader) have around the same levels in all versions. I suspect this is so anyone that does what I did and accidentally does those Gyms out of order doesn't receive a nasty surprise. After all, it's a very easy mistake. I think I will stick with doing them out of order, because I need the money, and some events near and after Koga's Gym require a lot of items. However, if the battle against Blue proves too tough for me, I will turn around and head for Fuchsia.

Blue only has two Pokémon, but they're pretty strong. He has a Charizard and an Exeggutor. They are around my level (and probably should be, considering I'm doing things out of order), and put Dia in the yellow using Power Whip and Heat Wave (one of which was critical). However, it was still an easy win by exploiting weaknesses, so I decide to continue.

Silph is largely the same as it was in the original. Basically, it's still a massive area with 11 floors, stairs, and warp panels. I like to start by taking out every Trainer I can, so I take all the stairs first. The Trainers are still several levels below me, so they don't pose much of a problem.

Archer appears again, teaming up with a Rocket Grunt against me and Trace. Rose wipes the floor with him, despite the grunt's Raticate knowing the Dark Type move Sucker Punch. Also worth noting Trace has a Cubone that proves to be pretty strong. I wonder if it was the same one he helps back in Lavender. I wouldn't be surprised…

Anyway, after that fight, Trace realizes the grunt dropped a Card Key. He hands it to me, and now I can use it to open the myriad of locked doors scattered around the place. I have to say that out of all the changes in the game, this is one of the ones I appreciate the most. In the originals and the previous remakes, the Card Key is difficult to find without a guide. It's entirely possible to go running around the entire place having no idea where it is because of that. In the originals and previous remakes, one has to step on a warp panel about midway through the dungeon. After that one has to step on a warp panel again (going back the way they came), and land standing on the previous warp panel. After that, the player simply has to walk forward a bit, and they'll bump into the Card Key, being able to pick it up. There's absolutely no hints that this is what the player needs to do, or that the entire sequence of events is even possible (since normally a single step on a warp panel will cause the player to be forced into another location). Lore wise, it seems pretty nonsensical that Team Rocket would leave something so important just lying around on the floor. The new method eliminates a lot of the hassle, and makes much more sense.

With that, I immediately start opening up the doors on every floor. More Trainers are inside, but I am ready for the challenge. One of them has a Muk that barely survives Sushi's Waterfall. It fights back with Thunder Punch, doing massive damage to Sushi and catching me off guard. Luckily, Sushi is able to finish it off next turn. Hopefully there are no more surprises… Also, the TM for Self-Destruct is here… Nothing I will ever use, though… Flash Cannon is also another move that's here… It's powerful, but nothing I want right now… Lapras is still in the building, like in the original and the previous remakes. It's both powerful and rare, so I keep with me. I think it can be found in the wild later (or perhaps earlier, if I'd done things in order). Regardless, its name is Icefall.

There are a few other things here, such as the TM for Dragon Pulse, and a Porygon with Hyper Beam. I could still defeat it easily, but the powerful move caught me off guard… Hyper Beam has a very cool animation, though… There's also an Electabuzz that nearly defeats Dia with a critical Thunder Punch after her defenses lowered by Screech. Luckily, I had Reflect up from Baddy Bad and barely survived… Thankfully, there's healing on the same floor, and it's done by the same spy that gave me the clothing… I always wondered why a random nurse would be in the building, since the employees don't seem to have any Pokémon, and Saffron would have hospitals… I'm glad there's an explanation here… Also, I find out from Damien battling a Haunter that Toxic now hits Pokémon after they have used Fly… It didn't in any of the previous games, but I wonder if that's because most of the moves that normally would hit a target using Fly don't exist in this one. I wonder if that effect will be kept in future entries… Also, I find the TM for Flamethrower here... Finally, Damien has something stronger than Ember. Perhaps there are advantages to doing this part first…

And I always forget that the warp panel to reach the final room is right around the corner from the healing beds, and then to the east after touching it… So there's a lot of unnecessary running around… I managed to pick up some final items in the meantime, though… Nothing worth noting here, unfortunately… As I head to the final area, Archer appears to try and stop me… However, Trace steps in his way, allowing me to go on ahead… I'm surprised there was no rival fight at all in the building, but maybe it's been moved somewhere else… It doesn't fit Trace's character, after all, and Blue already performed the test he would've administered… Still, it's a pretty important fight in the original, because it's when most of the rival's Pokémon reach their final forms… So I can't imagine it would be cut entirely…

The Team Rocket Trio are up to their usual antics, but they go down without even getting a chance to attack…

At last, it's time to fight Giovanni again. It appears the cutscene before the fight has been extended… In this version, Giovanni tells the president of Silph to stop lying to him about creating the Master Ball. It appears the president had a deal with Giovanni before he knew who he really was, and that he was supposed to hand over the Master Ball upon its completion. However, the president found out that Giovanni only wanted him to create powerful Pokémon for Team Rocket, and that the president was to do so using research Team Rocket had stolen. The president tries to back out of the deal, but Giovanni states that harm will come to the people of Silph if the president refuses to fulfill the deal.

That's when the player steps in.

I have to say I like this little exchange that was added. It makes everything make more sense, because otherwise it felt the negotiations with Giovanni were just coming out of nowhere… In the original, Giovanni just threatens the player before engaging in battle… The context before this makes the whole thing more believable…

Regardless, time to take Giovanni down.

His team is the same as before, other than the inclusion of a Nidoqueen. Dia handles this one on her own, with Baddy Bad all but nullifying its attacks. Bouncy Bubble then restores what damage it does manage to do. Rhyhorn goes down in one hit from Bouncy Bubble, and Nidoqueen goes down in three. Nidoqueen does manage to get off paralysis from Body Slam, but still doesn't do much damage. Defending Giovanni gets me the Master Ball, although I'm not sure I'll use it. If I do use it, it's not going to be until much, much later.

New to this version is the ability to interact with the Silph employees after defeating Team Rocket. There's some pretty amusing dialogue for doing so… Someone asks the player if they want to work for Silph when they get older. Another pair gets engaged after hiding from Team Rocket next to each other. One person begs the player not to tell anyone that saw him cry during the invasion. Still another unfortunate person wonders if her insurance covers being captured by Team Rocket... It's not only hilarious, but it really enriches the lore… Another new thing in these games is getting Porygon as a gift after finishing up Silph. Since Porygon is both rare and my favorite Pokémon, I keep this second one (Hero). Also, there is a police officer that gives me a set of police clothing. I try it on, but decide to stick with the Team Rocket clothing. Because being a rebel is cool sometimes…

Since I have quite a bit of money from the latest escapade, I decide to finish off Dia's wardrobe. I want things to match, and therefore decide the entire outfit will be black. A pair of midnight shades and a fancy black bow fits the bill… Now I'm even more of a rebel…

Yet even rebels must face the law as I make their way to the Saffron Gym.

But I will record the details of my encounter next time.


	8. Reunion

8\. Reunion

Off to the post-Thanksgiving session of Let's Go Eevee! Good thing to do while recovering from the food… I wonder what Pokémon thing about Thanksgiving… I should write a story on that…

Speaking of things happening, I just noticed that CP (combat points) has the same abbreviation as my disability (cerebral palsy)… I find that hilarious, and I have a feeling I'm going to make a couple jokes…

But jokes and Thanksgiving stories will be for later.

Because there is a lot of ground to cover.

Like taking on Saffron City's Gym.

Saffron's Gym has the first requirement I'm not ready for. It requires having a Pokémon that is at least level 45.

Unfortunately, most of my Pokémon are one level away from that.

It's worth noting that if I did Saffron City when I was supposed to, I would've easily conquered the challenge. There's many areas to train around Fuchsia, and the game assumes I've gone through them when I haven't. Perhaps the levels of the Gym will be higher as a result? Of course, Sabrina's Pokémon are pretty high level to begin with, but only in Yellow, for some reason. She was around level 50, when the player could easily be 10 to 20 levels below that. To compensate, her moves that were not the best, and her Pokémon could easily be defeated if the player managed to land a hit on them before she could do enough damage defeat them. But that was difficult because they had high attacking stats and speed. Luckily, the developers seemed to realize that this was a problem, because that team didn't show up again. I wonder what I will encounter here…

Also, luckily, a lot of my Pokémon close to leveling. With a single catch, Music becomes level 45.

And then I can finally enter.

Saffron's Gym has received a spectacular redesign. It now looks like a giant glowing city, and the player now constantly warps to the tops of buildings. It's incredibly beautiful, but also stunning and fitting for Saffron's image.

That said, the means of traversing the gym is still the same. The player must take different warp panels to progress, in hopes of finding the one that will lead to Sabrina. The warp panels lead to different rooms, and each room has a Trainer inside. Though Sabrina's Gym is supposed to use psychic Pokémon, a few of her trainers bizarrely use ghosts... I'm not sure why that is, especially considering ghosts are strong against psychics… I wonder if that's kept here, and know there's only one way to find out. Before I proceed, though, I teach Rose Dark Pulse. That way, Rose can resist almost everything the Trainers throw at her, and do super effective damage back.

As with Silph, I simply run around until I find which warp panel leads to the end. It's a lot simpler, thankfully. And it appears the ghosts are still chilling with the psychics… Nothing Dia can't handle, though. It also appears that this version of Saffron is closer to the originals, where there is not a Trainer in every room. I know at least one of the games that featured Saffron had Trainers in every room, but I don't remember which one… Also, the psychics look a little odd… I think it is definitely one of the few redesigns do not like…

But I do defeat them regardless, and make my way to Sabrina. Rose leads the charge, having both resistances and super effective damage. Unfortunately, Sabrina's redesign is one I also do not like… I'm guessing she's intentionally designed to be unsettling, but it doesn't fit her personality at all... I get that it's probably a nod to the anime, where she was downright terrifying and much more prone to battle. Of course, her own psychic powers were possessing her for the majority of her appearances, so how much that really was her personality is up for debate…

Anyway, Sabrina leads with Mr. Mime. Mr. Mime is part Fairy, so it takes neutral damage from Dark Type moves. Its only weaknesses are Steel and Poison, neither which I have. However, it's still quite frail, and can't do much damage against Rose's resistance. So Mega Drain just wears it down anyway.

Her next Pokémon is Alakazam, and it's also her strongest. It somehow has Night Shade, and uses it to put Rose in the yellow. However, two Dark Pulses destroys it anyway. Sabrina then sends out a Slowbro that puts me to sleep with Yawn and attacks me with Surf. I use Mega Drain to heal from last encounter, but that puts me in the yellow again. Her final Pokémon is Jynx. It puts me to sleep with Lovely Kiss, and then attacks with Psychic. However, I just heal the sleep, and destroy it with two Dark Pulses anyway. I just have to take a moment and say that I love the Gym Leader Theme in this game. Thanks to the longer battle, I can finally hear it in full, and it's awesome… Anyway, Sabrina gives Calm Mind, a move that boosts special stats. About half my team can learn it, but I don't teach to anyone right now.

Instead, I head to the west, to the route where the first Snorlax was. In the original games and the previous remakes, this was a bike path known as Cycling Road. Since riding Pokémon has replaced the bike path, it's now the same as any other route.

Speaking of riding Pokémon, I realize I can finally do so.

Charizard is one of the Pokémon that can be ridden, and Damien happens to be one.

So I jump on Damien, and decide to fly on his back. Flying is faster than walking, but as a trade-off, I'm unable to fight Trainers or wild Pokémon. Considering I'm trying to get everything, I will stick to walking for now. Speaking of getting Pokémon, I capture a wild Dodtrio, but do not keep it. An assistant of the professor's also gives me 30 Ultra Balls to capture more Pokémon with, provided I have registered 40 species of Pokémon in my Dex. I blow him away by registering more than twice the amount of Pokémon (83) he asks for… I wonder how many I will register when I'm done with the main story…

Anyway, time to continue.

Ponyta (Sprint) is the only obvious new catch, although evolved form Rapidash can also appear on the route.

But there's one that's less obvious.

And I've been waiting for that Pokémon for a long time.

Despite having in my party all along.

Eevee.

That's right, Eevee can finally be found on this route in the wild. And unlike Dia, these Eevee can evolve. They don't appear often and are difficult to catch. To the point I end up using some of my Razz Berries on them. However, I finally catch three (Vincent, Zues, and Wildfire), and evolve them to their final forms.

This would've also been where my team would've undergone major changes. I was planning to use the three Eevee evolutions together, but my plans went awry. While Pokémon learning moves at lower levels works for some, like Clefable, it works against others, like Eevee. The problem is that Eevee learns mostly Normal Type moves if it doesn't evolve. Since its Type changes when it evolves, it learns a completely different set of moves based on the evolution. In other games, Eevee is found at fairly low levels and can evolve and learn moves of the evolved form's type.

This is not the case in Let's Go.

In Let's Go, Eevee is found at such a high level that it's already learned all of its moves. In previous games, the evolutions would be able to learn at least one of their natural moves, but because all of them stop learning moves very early, this is not possible. The evolutions then can't learn any of their specific moves until they get to the Move Relearner. The relearner is only at the end of the main story, so the only way to make the evolutions stronger in the meantime is to use a bunch of TMs. And since the evolutions have limited movepools, the player will most likely be opting for the expensive TMs in Celadon. Overall, it's not worth the hassle.

I managed to get lucky enough to encounter and capture a Rapidash. I'm about to move on, but then something amazing happens. A Raticate jumps out of the grass. However, instead of being a dull brown, its fur is a stunning red. This Pokémon sticks out like a sore thumb, and I quickly dash towards it. A few minutes, and I have a successful capture.

I smile as I recall how the newcomer is classified.

Shiny Pokémon.

It's unbelievable to think I would be lucky enough to find one, let alone catch it.

Shiny Pokémon are a different color from others of their species, and are incredibly rare. They have an animation of something shining, which is why they're called Shiny Pokémon. The reason they have this animation was that they were first introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver. These games are some of the last that could be played on the original Game Boy, and that was in black and white. So these Pokémon gained another animation in order to differentiate them from typical members of their species if the player was playing without color. There's no need for the animation now, but it's become iconic.

This Raticate is nothing I will use, but it's still cool to have. It reminds me of a shiny Raticate I used in Pokémon Black 2. I took it through the entire game, completing every mission, and leveling it up to the maximum level of 100. Therefore, I decide to name this shiny Raticate Flashback.

Otherwise, there is a coach trainer who gives out the TM for Drill Run. Only Rose can learn it, and I decide not to teach it to her.

I finally make it to Fuchsia, and not a moment too soon. I'm greeted by an adorable scene with Dia visiting the zoo and playing with the Pokémon. She does exactly what I would do at the zoo. Well, if playing with the animals while visiting was safe (it's not, and probably never will be)… I could visit the Gym now, but there are other places I have my eye on.

Like the Go Park.

The Go Park is where one can transfer Pokémon from Pokémon Go to this game. One can then either capture the Pokémon or constantly interact and play with them. There is also an event that can only be activated if a player regularly uses the Go Park, but it cannot be activated until the player reaches Fuchsia. This is true even if the player has their Pokémon Go and Let's Go game set up to communicate with each other before then, as I found out when I tried to activate the event before I came here.

But now I can, and I'm eager to get started.

There are three steps. First, one has to link the Let's Go game in the Pokémon Go account together by going to the settings in both. An icon in the shape of a Nintendo Switch will then appear in the Pokémon Go box. One must then press the button, and the option to bring Pokémon to the Go Park on the Switch at the same time. If this is done successfully, the Pokémon will migrate to the Go Park. Multiple Pokémon can be chosen, but for what I want to do, I only choose one. This is because bringing the Pokémon from Go to Let's Go gives out a special item. That item is called a Mystery Box, and is received regardless of how many Pokémon the player transfers.

There are some restrictions, however. The first is that Pokémon unavailable in Let's Go cannot be transferred. The second is that any Pokémon successfully sent to Let's Go cannot be transferred back, and any Pokémon captured from a Go Park cannot be sent back to one. Another restriction is that the Nintendo Switch and the mobile device must be in close proximity to each other for the transfer to work. If either one goes to sleep or turns off, the player has a chance of losing the Pokémon entirely, with no way to get it back. The final restriction is that the Mystery Box item can only be received once a week, real-time, regardless of how many Pokémon the player transfers within that week. This is important for another event, separate from the one I'm about to do.

So with all this in mind, I'm able to make my accounts connect and send over a Pokémon. The Pokémon picked was Gloom. Gloom is unavailable to me right now without raising an Oddish, and its final form is via a stone. Therefore, I wanted one that I could evolve right away, since I didn't have a spare other than the two I've received earlier. I'm unsure how Let's Go calculates stats, because a lot of them don't exist in Go. However, the Gloom is very low-level (level 11). Nevertheless, I catch and evolve him anyway, I'm not sure if I will use the new Vileplume, but I name him Travel. It's also worth noting any Pokémon transferred from Go have an icon next to their name.

But now I can finally do the main event.

Rapidly, I head to Pokémon Go and open up my Mystery Box.

From the time I open up the box, a 30 minute timer counts down. A white mist surrounds my character as I watch and wait.

After a few minutes, something comes.

A new Pokémon.

One never seen before in the entire series history.

It possesses a silver sleek body with a golden honeycomb for a head. It sees the world through a single black eye.

Steel rings through the air as its name is spoken.

Meltan.

That's right, Meltan is a brand-new Pokémon currently exclusive to Pokémon Go and Let's Go. It's implied it's going to be part of the next games in the series that are scheduled to release for the Nintendo Switch in fall of next year, but not much is known about them. What is known is that opening a Mystery Box will cause Meltan to spawn at a player's location for half an hour. This Pokémon can then be captured and sent to Let's Go. Other than completing a series of quests in Pokémon Go, there is no other way to receive a Meltan at this time.

But that's not all.

Meltan is the first ever mythical Pokémon to receive an evolution. It can evolve into a Pokémon called Melmetal, but it takes some doing. Firstly, the Meltan one wants to evolve must stay in Pokémon Go until evolution. Meltan transferred to Let's Go will never evolve. Next, the player must either catch other Meltan, transfer them (to Let's Go or in Pokémon Go), walk with Meltan as a partner, or a combination of all those. Doing so gives out the species specific candy that Meltan needs to evolve. Meltan needs 400 of these candies.

Yes, 400.

It's the most any Pokémon needs to evolve in Pokémon Go. For comparison, most Pokémon need 50 to 100 species specific candies to reach the final forms in Pokémon Go. Some Pokémon do need more, but 400 candies is almost unheard of. The only other Pokémon I know that needs that many is Magikarp, but it's been a while since I played Pokémon Go. There are items to increase the amount of candies gotten after a catch, but they are limited, and I am not likely to get many more. The high number of candies, combined with the fact that Mystery Boxes can only be found once a week and Meltan can't evolve in Let's Go makes the whole process of evolving it slow and tedious. Honestly, despite the fact that I love Meltan and its evolution, the way it was introduced is one of the weaker points of the game.

But I digress, as I still have to go catch one. It's difficult, however, because Pokémon Go is meant to be played on the move, and since I live in a rural area with my physical disability, I'm basically stationary. My only other option is to have someone drive me to a place while I use a Mystery Box. However, since Pokémon Go will not let any Pokémon appear if the user goes above a certain speed, that works against me.

To make matters worse, they are quite difficult to catch, and due to the fact that I'm not near any places to get supplies, I'm stuck with basic Poké Balls. Things get even more complicated when I realize I have to go to a dinner party, and have to try and capture Metan while preparing or be forced to wait until next week. Despite all this, I manage to round up eight Meltan. One of them will be transferred to Let's Go and caught as is, both for completion and for an event later. The Meltan is called Cadillac. Another will be kept in Pokémon Go until evolution, and this one is named Pantera. The rest remain unnamed and are transferred to Pokémon Let's Go, but I am not currently doing anything with them.

And just how many candies do I have after all this?

43.

And this is with some items to increase candy after successful catches. I only have a small amount of items like that, so imagine how slow it will be without them…

I tried doing some rough calculations, and realize it will take me two to three months to obtain Melmetal. However, the game will have long since been completed, so I have no choice but to obtain it without noting it here. Luckily, the game doesn't count mythical Pokémon towards Dex completion, and will still act like the game is 100% completed if Melmetal isn't obtained. I still want to obtain the mythical Pokémon for my own records, though.

So it's time to go catch its prevolution.

Even with Ultra Balls and ways to increase my catching chances, Meltan still proves extremely difficult to obtain. Several times it breaks out of my Ball, and one time it even runs away. Thankfully, it still stays in the park when it does that. Eventually, I do manage to capture it and can continue.

For those wondering, Meltan and Melmetal are both Steel Type Pokémon that can learn Electric Type moves. Melmetal has massive defense, HP, and attack stats, but almost no speed and is very weak against special moves. Unfortunately, since Cadillac is a very low level (17) and unable to evolve, I won't be using it. I'd like to use Pantera, but the method of evolution makes it so I can't use it until well after the game has ended. At least they both look adorable…

With all that out of the way, it's time to head to the east.

There's more training to do and Pokémon to gather before I can head to the Gym. I stop to pick up some Ultra Balls as well, having used a lot of them in my encounter with Cadillac. By the way, I love the music in the Go Park. It plays a rock remix of Pokémon Go's main theme, and it's excellent. Meltan has incredible music as well, both a unique encounter theme for both Let's Go and Pokémon Go.

But I cannot stay in the Go Park forever.

There's still things I must do.

With that, I continue.

To the east is another one of Professor Oak's assistants. He gives me items for dressing up as a researcher, but I'm content with what I have. It's worth noting in the original, he gave the player an item which would divide experience amongst all their Pokémon. However, since that's automatically done in Pokémon Let's Go, he gives the player a new outfit instead.

But there are several other new things to get.

Like new Pokémon, for example.

An unnamed Venomoth and a Tauros (Beef Stew) are captured fairly easily (despite the latter running away once). However, the last Pokémon, Pinsir, is not the same.

It's one of the version exclusives, and has a very low encounter rate. Therefore, I decide to train up some of the others while I wait for it to appear. Snake, Mankey, Shroom, Spy, Dream, and an extra Cubone that I got for an event later all evolve to their final forms during this time. When Pinsir (Beetle) finally does show up, he comes easily.

And that is enough for now.

Next time, taking on the rest of the routes near Fuchsia before turning around and heading into the city. After that, there should be countless more companions to befriend. Here's hoping none of them will be tough to find…


	9. Ride the Waves

9\. Ride the Waves

Perfect time for another session of Let's Go Eevee! The last quarter of the game draws near…

I suppose I should say why I am playing the game as if it was one that never seen before, when really, it's a remake of the game I've already cleared 100% several times, and already have all the Pokémon for, other than the new events.

Well, it actually has to do with the new event Pokémon.

And the fact that it's on a new system.

People were eventually able to find and read the games' data around the time of when they were released. This is how Meltan's moveset, stats, typing, and evolution method were found, among many other things. Most of this data would be discovered when people got play the games, so it was disregarded shortly after was found.

But something major was also discovered.

Something that people wouldn't find by just playing the games.

And that was the presence of Abilities.

For those unaware, Abilities are powers to activate involuntarily during battle. Each Pokémon has at least one to choose from, and these Abilities have a lot of different properties. Some Abilities are also hidden behind certain sidequests, making it so that the same species can have many different ones. For example, Pikachu normally has an ability called Static. Static makes it so that if the move makes contact with Pikachu, the opponent has a chance of getting paralyzed. However, if the player completes certain side missions, Pikachu's Ability will instead be Lightning Rod. Lightning Rod makes it so that Pikachu directs electric attacks to itself and absorbs them. Doing so also boosts the power of its own special attacks, although this was not the case until a few games after the Ability was introduced.

So Abilities like this affect battle significantly.

And though they are not in the game, it was discovered in the data that every Pokémon had them.

At first, it was speculated that this was just something the developers wanted to implement, but chose not to, or couldn't.

But the exclusion of Abilities was announced early on in the game's development.

So people believed that they had to be there for another reason.

And then there came a theory.

Transferring Pokémon from previous games had almost always been seen before.

So Abilities and regular stats were created in order to make the Pokémon from Let's Go able to be transferred to other games.

Like the one coming out for the Switch around this time next year.

The theory has yet to be proven, because a Pokémon transfer app has to come out for the Switch and players have to look at its data.

At the time of this writing, there is no such app, so there is no data to look at.

But considering the developers promise that all games going forward would have a streamlined method of transferring, it seems likely.

So if the transferring theory is indeed correct, I like to be able to move my progress to the new Switch game.

However, having the theory be correct also necessitates a change in my team.

Currently, my partner Pokémon, Dia, is one of the main members of my team. However, since the player's partner Pokémon is needed to participate in mini-games and traverse the overworld, it is extremely unlikely it will be able to be transferred.

Therefore, I need to have a replacement trained up and ready to go as soon as the new game is able to transfer.

Luckily, I have one in mind.

I always liked the Meltan line, and thought they would go well with my team. However, they come in low leveled and too late to be able to do anything in the main game.

But that doesn't stop me from using them for other things.

Like when the main game has completed.

Or other games entirely.

So one of them will be raised up and ready to go on my team when transferring to other games becomes available.

It works out well even if that doesn't happen, because a side quest after the main game is completed requires that Meltan and Melmetal be leveled up. And since I want to do everything in the game, I will be attempting the side quest.

But all this isn't until a long time later.

So now it's time to focus on the present.

With that, I feed my Pokémon the candy from my training session and continue through the routes. The Trainers fall easily, and I catch a Farfetch'd (Stick). A Coach Trainer gives Dream Eater, but it's nothing I want to teach to my Pokémon. The TM for Dazzling Gleam is also here, but once again, no one learns it. I find the TM for the healing move Roost at the end, but it's nothing my team is interested in. A little while later, and I've been through everything. It is time to head back to Fuchsia.

There's a little bit more I can do in the city before taking on the Gym. There's a man will trade regular Marowak for Alolan ones. This is the only way to get a Ghost type in the game other than using the Gastly line. Unfortunately, Alolan Marowak is fairly weak even in its home game, so I don't bother using it.

The next thing has to do with another quest. Despite the Safari Zone not being here, the Warden still is. It appears he's lost his teeth again… So, I have to go find them... He talks about searching Route 19, so I follow the instructions.

I come across a humorous scene where the Team Rocket trio try to find my Pokémon in the Go Park. However, they break the fourth wall as they lament the lack of success. After that, they quickly find the false teeth. They initially think it's worth something because they are made of gold. However, those thoughts are dismissed as they think it's disgusting, and the teeth are thrust into my character's hands. With that, I return them to the warden and get the technique Strong Push, the replacement for Strength. However, it seems it's more like a kick… The animations are still great, however as my Dia sets herself on fire every time I use it…

Something interesting about the lore is that Bill's family appears to live in Fuchsia in this game. It's interesting, because the sequels revealed that Bill and his family lived in Goldenrod, with his grandfather living in Cerulean. I wonder why that was changed, and how will it affect the sequels, if they are made… Perhaps they will move there later?

Whatever the case, it's Gym challenge time.

It seems like the Gym is based on the anime, where it looks like an old-fashioned building. It also looks smaller than what I remember, but perhaps it's because one can see the entire Gym with an overhead view this time, instead of progressing slowly through it. Koga's Gym also has one of the tougher entry requirements. In order to get in, the player must have captured at least 50 different species. That's a third of all species available in the game. Luckily, thanks trying to collect everything, I've captured twice the amount of species (101). However, for someone that doesn't see this coming, I suppose it could be a bit frustrating and difficult. The new catching system probably makes it easier, but it still possible to run through everything and catch only the minimum. Out of all the Gym requirements, this is the one I'm the least fond of (not that I'm fond of any of them in the first place).

Anyway, Koga's Gym is largely the same. There are still invisible walls of the player must navigate around in order to reach Koga. However, unlike the originals and the previous remakes, updated graphics make the walls entirely invisible. In order to prevent this from becoming too frustrating, smoke billows every few seconds. The smoke shows where the invisible walls are for a short time, helping guide players through the maze. However, I don't need the help, seeing as I've been to this Gym many times. Entering this Gym also triggers an amusing cut scene where Koga is revealed to be disguising himself as the Gym guide should the player fulfill the requirement. Somehow, he uses smoke to warp himself back to the center of the Gym. Maybe Sabrina taught him something… The real Gym guide is amazed, apparently.

Regardless, it's time to move.

The Trainers aren't anything special, aside from a few use some annoying poison/Protect combos. It's annoying because poison does damage every turn, and Protect makes it so that I can do any damage back in order to end the battle and the poison. It's something that doesn't really surprising, considering how Koga was infamous for that combo in previous games…

But at last, I make it to him.

He duplicates himself to boast about the power of poisonous Pokémon…

Before promptly being destroyed by Rose and Psychic.

He does use Protect to try and stall, but in the end, it does nothing. His last Pokémon, Muk, does land a Sludge Bomb and poison, but it still doesn't do that much. I also don't like his redesign, unfortunately. It's like the developers were trying to make him a darker character, but tried too hard… Or perhaps he uses the ninja stereotype a bit too much…

Regardless, now that Koga is beaten, there are many things I must do.

Because now I have the secret technique Sea Skim.

Sea Skim replaces the move Surf, and involves the player's partner Pokémon traveling on a surfboard to ferry them across water. It is also the final Secret Technique to learn. Learning it shows in adorable scene of Eevee on a surfboard. That reminds me, in the original game, the player could take their Pikachu to a house where it could play a surfing minigame. It didn't do anything in the game, but it was fun. In the original, the player had to get Surf on Pikachu through an event before the game could be played. When it was rereleased on the 3DS Virtual Console, the minigame was automatically accessible as long as the player had Pikachu with them. The remakes, being based on Red and Blue, omitted the minigame completely. It looks like it's omitted again in this version. It makes sense, considering the developers probably didn't want to waste space and graphics on something that ultimately had no effect on the game. Still a shame, because it was fun.

Yet there are many other things to do.

Starting with heading towards Cerulean. I take the time to stock up on Lures and Balls before heading to the east. I go as far as I can, before stopping to the north of Route 10.

Because here lies something I had not seen before.

The first waterway.

With the ability to move across water, almost all water Pokémon are available to me now. Excluding of course, those native to areas I didn't visit. So it's time to get catching, starting with Cerulean's east.

There are two new encounters here, Tentacool (Saké) and Dratini (Ayra). The evolved forms also appear, but I'm not going to spend a ton of extra time catching them.

Instead, I have my eye on the south.

Because of to the south of the route lies a building.

A building that holds many items and powerful Pokémon.

The Power Plant.

I waste no time going in.

When inside, there are several new Pokémon to catch. There's Koffing (Asthma), Voltorb (Subterfuge), Electabuzz (Stripe), and Magnemite (Gravity). Koffing is also a version exclusive, so I catch an extra for trade. It's too late to use any of these Pokémon, but they are nice to have. There's also a Coach Trainer who will give a bunch of rare candies when beaten, and the TM for Thunder is lying around. Evolved forms are also here, and I capture all but Magneton. However, the evolved forms do not stay. There is also more stationary fights, as I battle against Electrodes disguised as items. Unlike Snorlax, these fights have the 5 minute timer, so I have to be quick. Luckily, I win each fight, capturing the Pokémon as my prize.

But all this pales in comparison to what I'm really after.

And I find it at the end of the plant.

Zapdos.

A legendary bird Pokémon, and an electric flyer.

Powerful, and the first legendary to capture in this game.

And ready to battle with all its might.

It rapidly brings its might to bear.

I lead with Chase, thinking that I should be fine because he resists all of Zapdos's attacks and can deal neutral damage back.

However, I am wrong.

I quickly find out that Zapdos can take out my Pokémon in two hits, even while resisting its attacks, with its own Thunderbolt. Chase's Thunderbolt does damage back, but it's not nearly as much. It also has Light Screen to weaken most of Chase's strikes. Realizing that, I switch to Dia, hoping I can hit the bird with physical attacks.

However, it takes out Dia before she can even strike.

I send out Chase again, rapidly using a Max Revive. I may need her again if Chase falls, and with the timer rapidly decreasing. I can't afford to waste time. However, Chase consistently takes Zapdos's attacks, getting in the red but never losing. With enough healing, Chase's Thunderbolt brings down his opponent.

I have half the time left on the clock.

I have to say the timer function makes things interesting. I wonder if it will appear in any other games after this, because from what I can recall, it's only appeared one other time (in the Bug Catching Contest in Johto, and that timer was very generous).

The bird comes in only a few Balls after that. I name the newcomer Thunderstorm, fittingly.

But there are many more places to go, as I sail around Kanto's waters. Doing this, I capture a Staryu (Northstar), Poliwag (Frogger), and a Horsea (Mona, with an extra apostrophe for the game to accept the name) I also capture an extra Staryu for evolution, a Tentacruel, and a Poliwhirl for evolution. With the Pokémon either safely stored my box or sent away, I can finally start heading into the next place.

And that place requires me to head back home.

Because the place is Pallet.

The next route, and the fastest way to the city near there is south the Pallet. I simply have to cross the water, and I will make it there.

But now without getting a new Pokémon.

That new Pokémon is Tangela (Hair Gel). It has the distinction of being the only pure Grass Pokémon among the original 151, but not much else. I rapidly grab it anyway. There's a Coach trainer that gives out Ice Punch. She has a Kangaskhan that gives Damien bit of trouble with Dizzy Punch, but nothing else worth mentioning.

So, after taking a ride on the waterways, I finally arrive at Cinnabar.

There's a quite a bit to do here, but for now I'm only interested in a few things. One is a trader who trade Alolan Meowth for regular ones. Alolan Meowth is the last version exclusive, so I'd like to get my hands on it as soon as I can. The other is the fossil regeneration lab. It can turn fossils in the player's inventory into Pokémon that can be found nowhere else.

And I happen to have two such fossils.

Rapidly, they are revived into Omanyte (Omar) and Areodactyal (Shred). They're both good Pokémon, but not ones I will use.

And I think that's it for now.

Next time, I will do some quests around Cinnabar before heading for my next badge and attempting to finish the last quarter of the game.


	10. Blazes and Cinders

10\. Blazes and Cinders

Off to another part in my Kanto journey! I think this may be one of the last, considering the end of the game is near. And the end of the game in Kanto goes pretty fast… So I wonder how far I will get today…

I suppose I will see.

Also, I knew Mew was one of my favorite Pokémon when I keep getting it as my answer in various Pokémon personality tests… It's kind of funny, actually… I also realize right now that I got something wrong about the Mew glitch in one of my entries much earlier on, but I'll get to that a little while later.

For now, time to travel east.

There are water routes and Trainers to be battled.

But there's something else that grabs my attention.

It's an entirely new area.

The Seafoam Islands.

These islands are home to many Ice Type Pokémon and one of the legendary birds. Therefore, it's essential to complete them if I want to also complete my Dex.

Well, I'm complete them after humorously trying to read a sign from the back, and not so humorously getting my Pokémon healed up by the person from the Pokémon Mart near the islands. It's awesome that they added extra dialogue for when the player tries to read signs in the wrong direction. It's a small thing, but it's hysterical and really shows attention to detail. As for the Pokémon Mart employee, I find that very useful. Seafoam Islands is in the middle of the water routes, so it's possible for Pokémon to be a bit injured before heading there. Otherwise, the player has to fly all the way back to either Fuchsia or Cinnabar and go surfing out again. All the backtracking is a bit annoying, so I'm glad this eliminates that.

Anyway, onto the caves themselves.

The Seafoam Islands have a puzzle to complete, but I decided to go Pokémon catching first.

I catch Slowpoke (Snow), Jynx (Lola), Seel (Andre), and an unnamed Slowbro on land. The boulder pushing puzzles are still in the dungeon, so I start trying to solve those by pushing boulders into holes. However, I accidentally fall into one of the holes, and land on the floor below. Luckily, I'm able to use that to my advantage to fall into the water so I can catch Shellder (Soup). I also catch an extra one to evolve.

I think the whole idea of falling through holes and then into water is the most nonsensical puzzle in existence... How exactly does the player character not get injured or drown? And the fast currents that force the player out of rooms are also still there… It seems the puzzle works the same as before, with me needing to throw boulders down holes in order to progress and stop the currents… Also, with the new graphics, the spinning animation looks much more pronounced. I understand what the developers are trying to do, but it looks silly and out of place. Especially with the surfboard going round and round and round, while the player character and their Pokémon somehow manage to stay on it… Speaking of Pokémon, there is a Coach Trainer here that uses all three Eevee evolutions. Amusingly, Dia destroys them and only needs one healing during the fight. I get five rare candies for my troubles. Also, the animations for Flare Blitz, Thunder, and Hydro Pump are so cool… Too bad the Eevee evolutions come in so late, or I would be using those moves…

Nevertheless, I continue to solve the boulder puzzles.

And this is one time where I have to criticize the updated graphics.

The problem is in this version, boulders are a lot taller. Therefore, it's difficult to see if there's anything behind them. Seafoam Island's puzzle involves pushing one boulder in front of a wall behind it, then pushing another boulder to the front. However, since the boulders are taller, they tower over the wall, and it's very difficult to see. As a result, I mess up a few times before I understand what's going on. Perhaps the developers made the boulders that way so they would stand out and be easy to find, but this comes with the drawback of not seeing the terrain. At least it allows me to catch a Dewgong…

Regardless, I now make my way to the next legendary Pokémon.

Articuno, the bird of ice.

Thankfully, I am better equipped to handle it. Damien gets hit with an Ice Beam, but takes Articuno down in two Flamethrowers. The bird comes in only a few throws after that... Perhaps legendary Pokémon have been made easier to catch, because my throws weren't even that good… Then again, it could just be good luck, considering some of the issues I've had with other Pokémon… Regardless, the newcomer's name is Winterfrost.

From there, it's time to truly explore Cinnabar.

Starting with the Pokémon Mansion.

The puzzle with doors and switches is still there, but the music is remixed. Unfortunately, it's one of the remixes I don't really like. It's a lot less intimidating, and therefore doesn't have the same feel that the original or the previous remakes had. Furthermore, the diary entries are a lot less descriptive. I suppose this was done to avoiding inconsistencies (such as saying Mew gave birth when it's unknown how exactly Pokémon reproduce, also saying that Mew was found in South America when it was not really elaborated on whether real-life locations actually existed in the Pokémon world). Still, it kind of ruins the feel of the place.

And speaking of lore inconsistencies, a rather major one still isn't elaborated on. Around the time when Mewtwo was first introduced, the anime showed that the scientists that created it were all killed by its out-of-control powers. After that, the lab was destroyed, and Mewtwo fled to take revenge on the world. But in the games, the mansion, also implied to be the lab, is still standing. Since there's nothing about anyone being killed and a person who shares the same name as one of the scientists exists (Mr. Fuji, head of Pokémon Tower), it can be inferred that the scientists somehow managed to escape. The problem comes in when one realizes that Mewtwo still was too powerful to control, and still fled most human contact. So what exactly happened between Mewtwo and its creators? Even though the anime is explicitly clear on their fate (and it makes a lot of sense), the games are not. I find it a bit odd that such a huge part of the lore would be just left wide open, especially when a previous arc in the game revolved around death and darkness (mainly thinking of the mother Marowak).

Be that as it may, I continue on.

A Coach Trainer gives the TM for Rock Slide, and I find the TM for Foul Play further in. They're both good moves, but nothing that I want my team to use right now. Magmar (Flameclaw) is my only new catch right now, but I know Ditto can also be found. However, it's very rare, so I'm not going to go looking for it until I'm ready to train. There seems to be a rest area near the end of the mansion. I don't remember if this existed in any of the previous Kanto games, however. What I know has changed is that the game now warns the player if they try to leave through the mansion's alternate exit. There was also a warp panel in the location, so the player can easily see it's an exit and not another wall. This is something I approve of, considering it was very easy in both the originals and the previous remakes accidentally run through the exit not knowing it was there. Of course, this led to much annoyance, as the player is near the end at this point and forced to go back.

Speaking of the exit, I am now at the end.

I snatch the Secret Key, and prepare to depart the place when two Ditto appear. One flees after several failed attempts to capture it. The other (Duplica) comes within a single throw.

With that, it's time to leave the mansion and head to the Gym.

It appears that Gym doesn't have an extra requirement, instead having the requirement be having the Secret Key in the inventory. I'm guessing the player can still come in the Gym, but they will be denied access without it. And I suppose that's there in the so that players don't end up confused as to why the Gym is locked, and unsure where to go. Of course, there's only one major building in the city, with the others not giving anything. I think it would be easy with process of elimination. Of course, the key isn't exactly easy to find, so maybe that's not so obvious…

Enough about that.

Time to enter.

I'm immediately greeted by a hilarious scene where Blaine runs up to give the player the first quiz question before the Gym Guide can finish explaining about the Gym… It looks like the quiz questions are still intact, and I find the whole scene flows and fits well… It's completely in character of Blaine, and really adds to his personality… Not to mention it's refreshing after the seriousness of the Pokémon Mansion… It also seems Blaine's Gym has been redesigned to look like a scientist's laboratory. It makes sense, considering what Cinnabar is known for…

And I step right up to the stage and am given five questions. Each question answered correctly gives a Blaine doll. Once five of the dolls are collected, I can fight the Leader. If the question is answered incorrectly, I must fight a Trainer to proceed, and winning the fight gives me the doll. Almost all the quiz questions have been redone, probably because of updated mechanics. Regardless, the whole thing is hilarious, with some of the questions having completely nonsensical and silly answers. Not to mention Blaine dancing on stage every single time a question gets answered correctly.

But there's one thing I don't like.

And that's how the questions are done.

In the original and the previous remakes, the questions were administered by machines. The path was blocked off until the player inputted an answer. Once that was done, the player either had to fight a Trainer or could proceed. The problem comes in because originally, the player could choose to fight the Trainers even if they got questions right. They simply had to go up and talk to them after that the questions have been cleared. Now the player automatically gets into their prize, with no chance to fight Trainers for experience and money. So if a player also wants to battle everyone, they're required to purposely answer the questions wrong. It's a bit annoying because the player has to go out of their way to trigger most of the fights, and it slows everything down. It's a bit like Clemont's Gym in X and Y, and that had the same problem…

Nevertheless, I reset and answer all the questions wrong deliberately. Well, I almost do. The silly answer to question four is the correct one, so I end up having to restart again just to fight more Trainers… It's also noted that unlike in the original and the previous remakes, the player cannot save in between the fights, nor can they speak to the Trainers after they've beaten them… I get what the developers are going for, and it's very cute, but it's very annoying for someone who actually does want to fight every battle in the game and get everything they can… I'm not sure if it's even worth it that much, because the Trainers aren't that strong… Regardless, I continue…

On another note, Blaine's battlefield looks hilarious. It resembles a giant tic-tac-toe board, even though it's supposed to show the symbols for right and wrong answers to quiz questions… And the curtain where he and the trainers is a giant model of his face with a twitching mustache… It's hard to play through this without bursting out laughing… I'm not sure which I like better, though… This, or the more serious interpretation used in everything else prior (including the anime, manga, and even fan projects)… I suppose it's just a matter of taste… This definitely was an interesting surprise, though, and something both fantastic and hilarious… Still enjoyable, just in a different way…

Anyway, time for a fight.

Blaine literally has fire in his eyes when he fights… It's amusing, hysterical, and awkward all of the same time… Too bad the fire doesn't extend to his team, as they're all defeated by Waterfall… He gives out Fire Blast, a powerful but inaccurate fire move. It's nothing that I need right now.

So instead I head out of Cinnabar's Gym.

Only to bump into Trace.

He tells me to head to Viridian, because the final Gym is there.

But I don't do that.

Instead, I sit and think about the changes made.

One of them involves the glitch I mentioned earlier.

This glitch involves another Pokémon.

Once so secret, its existence has never truly been officially acknowledged.

Developers have no name for this creature, yet it doesn't stop the fans from giving a one.

Missingno.

Missingno originally appeared in Pokémon Red and Blue, and could be found off the coast of Cinnabar. However, this Pokémon can only be found via a special event. The player had to fly to Viridian City and speak to the old man to have him catch a Pokémon for them. Afterward, they had to fly back to Cinnabar, and surf up and down the shoreline. Doing this would eventually trigger a battle with Missingno, and it could be fought just like any the Pokémon. Other strange happenings could also occur, such as Pokémon over the maximum level, and a few other glitch Pokémon that weren't Missingno. These glitches could also be captured, but it was generally ill advised, as they could do strange things to the player's game. Nevertheless, the idea of Missingno being a true Pokémon stuck with fans, and it quickly became known far and wide. The name stands for missing number, because even though fans saw it as an official Pokémon, the developers never did. Thus, it never had any number in the Pokédex, because the number was missing.

Missingno is known for another reason, though.

If a player encountered Missingno or another glitch Pokémon, the sixth item in their inventory would be duplicated to a massive number. This number would be so large that the game couldn't keep up with it. However, it was not limitless, and as soon as the game started showing normal numbers, the player had to head back to Missingno and duplicate items again. Furthermore, Missingno could also duplicate items that had infinite uses (called key items) as if they were regular. So the player had to be careful which item was in which inventory slot in order to avoid getting a bunch of useless things.

The glitch was patched in Yellow by making the old man always fail the catch. Trying to force the game to repeat the glitch will result in a different glitch Pokémon appearing, with a chance to corrupt the player's save file. Nothing like Missingno has ever appeared in the games since, even as Kanto got twice remade.

And so, Missingno sadly will continue to be only acknowledged by fans, left with only the ever fading hope that it will be an official Pokémon.

The other change though, is both official and intentional.

And it's something that only appears in the previous remakes.

Because if I were playing them right now, I'd be whisked off to the Sevii Islands.

These islands are an extra area that the player is forced to go to immediately after completing Cinnabar. There's a total of nine islands. However, only three are accessible before the game is cleared, the other four places the player is forced to go after it, and the final two are only available following real-life events. There are even more islands scattered in the games' data, but they were never implemented.

And I have a problem with them.

The problem is that, while the Sevii Islands do add to the lore of the games, they come out of nowhere and there's really no need for them. Furthermore, since the player is forced into them right before the final Badge, it just had pads game out for those who want to finish it quickly. It gets even worse in the postgame, where the player must complete them in full if they wish to rematch the Elite Four. The islands themselves are pretty empty, further cementing their status as something unnecessary. There's hardly any Trainers to battle, with no Gyms or League. And the way the postgame quests are handled makes it seem as though the only reason they exist was to establish connectivity with all the Game Boy Advance games. With the advent of online trading, that is no longer necessary, so it's likely the reason why the islands were taken out. To be honest, I don't miss them.

But that's beside the point.

Next time, I had towards the final Badge, along with probably completing the game and giving my closing thoughts. It's been one heck of a journey, so I'm interested to see how it ends.


	11. On Top of the World

11\. On Top of the World

Perfect timing for another chapter of let's go Eevee! Coming down the home stretch of the game! It seems like this chapter will be the last… It will be tough to say goodbye, but it's been a good run…

Of course, I'd better save more of my sentiments for the actual ending…

Which means I have to get there first.

But before I do, one last round of trading.

I'm able to get the extra Grimer I need in exchange for one of my Koffings, and helping someone with a bunch of trade evolutions. I also register Lickitung in the Dex, but it goes back to its original owner. No luck on the Alolan Grimer, though… That's a pretty specific trade, however, and not really needed for Dex completion. Therefore, a lot of people probably don't have it, and I'm not expecting to bump into it normally. I take the time to ask people if they are willing trade for one of my Alolan Meowths. So far, I haven't heard anything back yet, but I may need to wait until little later…

So now's the time to move forward.

It appears there's new clothing sets available at Vermillion, so I had there to pick them up. They appear to be for Dia, and can only be gotten if friendship is at max. They are clothing resembling all of Eevee's evolved forms, seven in total. Pikachu also gets something similar, but it only has one evolved form. It's nothing I'll be using, but it's nice to have for completion.

Speaking of completion, there's little more to customization than I thought. The player can change their partner's hairstyle, but only by using the touchscreen in certain ways when playing with their partner in the menu. I don't use the touchscreen, so I'm not planning on utilizing this feature. To be honest, I prefer hats anyway.

With the last few tasks out of the way, I finally head towards Viridian.

Only to find out that the Gym is still locked, oddly enough.

It turns out Trace is having the same issue, and suggest heading back to Pallet to talk to Oak. So the two of us automatically had there. I have to say I like the scene, because it made no sense why the Viridian Gym Leader would suddenly come back just because someone got seven Badges… It could be that no had one ever gotten seven Badges before this, but the game never explicitly points out that this is the case. And I find it highly improbable anyway, especially considering that in the originals and the previous remakes, the player's rival got all eight Badges before they did, and was waiting at the route to the Pokémon League for a battle…

Regardless, I quickly visit the Lab in Pallet.

Professor Oak is there with Blue, and the former introduces the latter as his grandson. He also makes a joke about not remembering his grandson's name, but Blue doesn't find it funny… I suppose it's a throwback to when he does it in both the originals and the remakes… I could never tell whether he was joking or not…

Anyway, Blue seems impressed that I beat Team Rocket, and gives me the tools for Mega Evolution. For those unaware, Mega Evolution was a concept introduced in Pokémon X and Y and expanded on in the remakes of the Hoenn games. With Mega Evolution, Pokémon that typically cannot evolve any further (or at all) gain another form. These forms are often extremely powerful, giving new Types, Abilities, and even moves.

There are a few drawbacks, however. One is that only a single Pokémon can Mega Evolve per battle. This remains the case even if the player has more than one Pokémon on the team that has fulfilled the criteria to Mega Evolve. The second is that Mega Evolution is temporary, and Pokémon revert to their normal selves after the battle. The third is that in order for Mega Evolution to even occur, a player needs two things. One is something called a Key Stone, which is only given out during certain events in the game and cannot be traded in to be available any earlier. The second is the appropriate Mega Stone for the Pokémon that wishes to Mega Evolve. These Mega Stones can be traded in earlier, but only through local trading. Furthermore, Pokémon using Mega Stones cannot hold any other item, nor can they have their item forcefully removed from them. There is one Pokémon that can Mega Evolve without the use of a stone, but it must know a certain move that is only available in a remote area, and is banned from most forms of play due to being overpowered. This Pokémon is also not in these games, so thankfully I don't have to worry about facing it.

Blue gives me a set of Mega Stones, but it is only the four for the Kanto starters (Charizard has two different options for Mega Evolving). Also worth noting that these are the only Mega Stones I will receive until the game is cleared. Since Pokémon cannot hold items in these games, all I need do is have the Mega Stone in my inventory and the appropriate Pokémon in my party. Luckily, Damien is one of those appropriate Pokémon. One of his Mega Stones is a straight upgrade, while another gives me access to one of the few Dragon Types in the game. Both are very good, although I won't be using the power forever. I have something else in mind, but it will have to wait.

It looks like I've gotten lucky, because someone is willing to trade me an Alolan Grimer for an Ekans and a Koffing. I end up having to catch an Ekans and trading Asthma away. However, Koffing is so common that I'm able to find an easy replacement. I also find and catch Magneton during this time, filling up another entry in my Dex. Finally, I get another Scyther out of the deal. It's nothing that I need at the moment, but Scyther is so rare I decide to keep it around anyway. At last I've gotten every version exclusive. It was a bit of a pain, but I'm feel lucky that I was able to get them all. Not to mention I'm extremely grateful to those who traded them to me, even though I have no idea who most of them are… Not to mention I got to try out the online features, something that I probably wouldn't have done otherwise… Overall, all the trading was worth doing, even though it took a lot of time and effort…

But now, there are other things to focus on.

I head out of the lab, and am rapidly informed that Viridian's Gym Leader has returned.

So I make that city my next destination.

Within minutes, I am in the Gym.

It appears that Gym does not have any additional requirement other having seven badges. Since the player needs seven badges to get the Gym to unlock in the first place, that's not much of an extra requirement. The Gym itself also hasn't changed much, aside from a graphical upgrade. It still has the sliding panels seen in Celadon, with a few Trainers to battle along the way. The Trainers are nothing special, considering they mostly use Ground Type Pokémon, and I have plenty of ways to deal with them by now. Also, that lone Revive is still there. For some reason.

At the end of the room is Giovanni, spoiled Persian by his side. I always liked that trait about Giovanni, even though it's a trait that's stereotypically evil. Despite who he is, he truly does love Persian, so he must have some love for Pokémon. Not to mention his implied to like animals, because he employs several Tamers in his Gym (Trainers who have a history of using animals) and the anime implies he at one point enjoyed Meowth's (meaning the Pokémon from the Team Rocket Trio) company. It makes me wonder how that love and desire for strong Pokémon got warped into an obsession to get them at all costs... It would be a good story to write, because nothing about Giovanni really explores that… At least he realizes his mistakes and becomes an honest Trainer at the end, depending on how one interprets his final lines in the originals.

But enough rambling. Now is the time to fight.

Unfortunately, Giovanni falls just as easily as his underlings, as all of his Pokémon are weak to Waterfall. At last, I get the final Badge, and the right to travel the path to the Pokémon League. I also get the TM for Earthquake, and teach it to Sushi. Blue also appears afterward, stating that he will become the next Gym Leader. I will keep that in mind for later on.

But now is the time to stock up, because I have a long road ahead of me.

A Victory Road, to be precise.

Well, not before battling Trace. Type advantages still spell his end, and I get to use Mega Evolution. It's not as cool as in the main games, because it doesn't use the full animation for some reason…

Whatever the case, I need to move on.

I enter a new route at the end of the Badge check gates. I have to say the music for the start is awesome, and it's the same one that's used within the League itself… I have to say it sounds truly ominous, fitting for the last area in the main game… Since this is a new route, there are new Pokémon here. They're mostly evolutions of the previous ones, although Exeggcute can be found here. I catch one (Frypan) and then get another for something I will do later.

With that, it's finally time to enter Victory Road.

Pity it doesn't have its own music in this version, even though it did in every other region… That would've made it even cooler, but that was not to be…

The puzzles where one must push boulders until they hit switches are still there, although they seem simpler this time around. What's also still there is a lot of Trainers. There is a Coach Trainer with a Ditto that transforms into Dia. I find it difficult to take down as my own powerful moves are used against me, alongside Dia's fairly good stats. I eventually win the fight, but Dia heals herself several times (of both status conditions and regular damage), casts Reflect constantly, and still ends the battle injured and paralyzed… I certainly won't underestimate Ditto after that…

I've captured almost everything here, so there isn't much that's new. However, Victory Road has Chansey, Hitmonlee, and Hitmonchan appear as special Pokémon depending on what floor the player's on. I got a chance to get Hitmonlee's Dex entry in a trade, but I've yet to get one of my own. Therefore, I decide to do so now. It's also worth noting that this is one of the last chances I have to train, and I gladly take it. My catch combo gets broken a few times but I finally managed to get Hitmonlee (Kickbox) to appear after catching about 11 Graveler. Omar, Crableg, Sunglasses, Paycheck, Summer, Mona, and Grimer all evolve into the final forms, and Ayra evolves once. I also realize that I forgot to get Goldeen and Seaking. I rapidly head to route 6, capturing both a Goldeen (Redfin), and a Seaking. I also capture a Rhydon, but it does not stay.

The Trainers are still not that tough, with Dia breezing through them. There's also a police officer that heals my Pokémon. I know for a fact that such a thing wasn't in the original or the previous remake, but it might be a good thing that it's here now.

Because the next obstacle I have to face is Moltres.

Moltres is interesting in that it was in Victory Road in the originals, but got moved to Sevii in the previous remakes. When Sevii was taken out, Moltres got moved back to Victory Road. Either way, it's still the last of the three birds the player faces, provided they're doing things in order and also collecting everything.

And it's also the easiest, with the way my team is.

It falls to a single Waterfall, and then to a few thrown balls after that. I name it Firebird and go on my way.

The rest of the dungeon is hardly worth mentioning… There's a Coach Trainer who gives out outrage, and there are a couple of other useful TMs and items lying on the floor. Other than that, nothing much.

So now, I'm finally here.

The Pokémon League.

The pinnacle of power for Trainers.

And the symbol that I'm finally nearing the end of my long journey.

This game gives a very good cutscene of the view beginning overhead and going down to the ground. It really shows how massive, majestic, and imposing the building is. Especially since the first thing the player sees is the humongous stairs… It was also interesting, because I read somewhere that in the original drafts for games, the Elite Four were supposed to be allies of Team Rocket, and the player had to come here to take them down. However, this idea was changed to using the Elite Four as a test of strength and coming-of-age in order to have the games appeal to a wider audience. This new idea worked fantastically, and has been the model of almost every Pokémon game ever since.

However, the original Pokémon manga arc, known as either Pokémon Special or Pokémon Adventures depending on where one lives, went with the original draft for the games, and that's why the Elite Four fighting against the player characters. I wonder how much the meaning of the League would change if the original draft made it through… Well, I have some ideas it how would, but it's definitely not very pretty…

Either way, this scene here really hammers home that the League is the end of a journey and everything the player character has worked towards… But at the same time it's the greatest challenge, and could be swept out from under them at any moment…

And, I'm ready for all of it.

Well, after a bit more training.

The first thing to do is to distribute the Rare Candies I've collected throughout the journey amongst my team. I want to make sure everyone is at least level 60, because having a Pokémon be level 60 or higher is what allows them to eat all the of the types of stat candy in the game (excluding species specific ones). After I'm done distributing Rare Candies and leveling up, I have my team devour every last stat candy I currently have. At this point, my team is levels 61 and 62.

The next thing is to check to see if there are any moves I would like my team to learn before going in. This is where the Move Reminder is, and this person can teach a move from anywhere in a Pokémon's natural move set, regardless of whether they reached the level where they can learn the move. They can only do this if the player has Heart Scales. So far, I'm content with the moves I have, so don't use the service.

Third thing on the list is to initiate a trade. There's a man who will trade Alolan Exeggutor for regular ones. This is noteworthy because it's one of five Dragon Types in the game (the others being the Dratini line, and one of Charizard's Mega forms). It's also noteworthy because it's the last of the Alolan forms available. It's nothing I plan on using, but I make the trade anyway for completion.

The final thing left to do is go shopping. I got most of my supplies before I went into the League, but I decide to do a little more here. The reason is that this place sells a powerful item called Full Restores. Full Restores are potent potions that fully heal Pokémon and cure them of any status effects. The downside is that they're by far the most expensive healing item in the game (and probably any game, for that matter). With my current funds, I can only buy 30 max. Right now, I simply choose to buy 10. It's worth noting Power Point restoring items cannot be bought, so I will have to be careful which moves I use and that I'm not too dependent on a single Pokémon. However, I've also saved up every single Power Point restoring item in the game for this point, so I should be fine.

With that, it's time to head in. The Elite Four are exactly like the originals, where the player has to fight them all in a row in a predetermined order. This is different from the more recent games, where the player could choose to fight the Elite Four in any order. I don't have a preference to either method, honestly, because the end result is the same. Once a player beats the Elite Four, they must face a powerful trainer called the Champion in order to claim their title and (presumably) control over the region. Each Elite Four member focuses a Type, but usually has ways to counter that Type's weaknesses. Champions usually don't have Type themes, but there are exceptions. Kanto's isn't one of them.

And there's one thing the Elite four and the Champion can take pride in.

It's that they're consistently the toughest challenge in the main story of the games.

A challenge that I know I'm ready for.

With that, I step through the League's halls to my first opponent.

It's a familiar face. Lorelei, the Elite Four member that helped me out before. She even recognizes me, although she's also prepared for battle. Her speech is mostly the same as in the original, although there's a line added about frozen Pokémon not be not being able to do a thing in battle. I feel like it softens the speech a bit, and I'm not sure I like it… But since Lorelei is not actively malicious, perhaps that's what the developers are going for…

But Lorelei's intentions don't change the fact that her Pokémon are 10 levels lower than mine. Furthermore, due to the lack of pure Ice Type Pokémon in the first 151, most of her Pokémon are also water type.

Which means Chase has absolutely no issues making short work of them. Her one Pokémon that is not Water Type (Jynx) just falls to Damien's Flamethrower.

Here's hoping the Elite Four get tougher from here…

But my hopes are dashed.

Because my next opponent is Bruno.

He's a Fighting Type master, but also uses Rock Types sometimes.

In other words, nothing that Rose can't destroy.

The battle is pretty much over before it even starts.

Agatha's up next. She looks creepy, but is really nothing. Dia takes out her entire team, even the ones she doesn't have super effective attacks for. Granted, I do have to use some items, but I'm not even close to being in any danger of fainting.

Lance doesn't fare much better. Between Thunderbolt, Moonblast, and a Max Potion, Music obliterates his entire team. I knew this game was supposed to be easier, but this is just pathetic. Also, the developers took out his line of him referring to the player as a Pokémon Master after they defeat him… It's a shame, considering how iconic that line was… In fact, I don't think there's many references to Pokémon Masters at all in this game… Which is rather odd, considering Pokémon Masters were very important to the lore as a whole in all continuities…

But enough about that.

Of course, just like in the originals, the rival is the Champion. In this case, it's Trace. Although, the game does try to trick the player into thinking it's Oak… Which is funny considering there actually was an unused battle against Oak in the original games' data… Too bad it was never properly utilized in either remake… At least Sun and Moon did something major with the whole battling professor idea… Of course, X and Y did it before that, but it was mainly to test the player's skill, and reveal a bit more of the lore…

But enough about that.

It's time to face Trace.

He seems really excited to battle, especially since we are his first challenger. That seems to be the same as the originals, although his speech is friendlier and doesn't bring on the same intensity as Blue's… Nonetheless, I take him up on his wishes.

And so it's only fitting that Dia destroys his entire team… I don't even need to heal… Bouncy Bubble does that for me… Keep in mind that am also five levels higher than even his strongest Pokémon… I also may as well comment on the music here… It's a remix of Blue's theme, and it's pretty nice (although nothing will ever beat the Alola games' rendition of it…).

The problem is it just doesn't fit Trace's character at all… Blue's theme is meant to be intense and serious, a true rivalry, and Trace really is not any of that… He is more of a friend who enjoys the same things the player does… And his character does that well, but it shouldn't be treated the same way as Blue's… I wish he had gotten his own theme, or a mixture of different themes to signify that he is a different Champion than Blue… Both Unova and Alola did this when their Champion changed over time... With everything else that's been updated, I don't see why this game couldn't do that too… It's a bit of a letdown, to be honest… Also interesting that Professor Oak tells Trace his kindness held him back, when Blue had the opposite problem… Also worth noting that Trace calls the player the strongest Trainer in the world, when Blue calls himself that before the player challenges him in the originals… They really are complete opposites, and it feels like the developers at least tried to tailor the Champion battle to Trace's character, but didn't quite go as far as they could have… At least the music that plays after the Champion fight is very fitting... It's a slowed down remix of Pallet's theme, and very sweet…

Now that the credits have rolled, it's time to do a few more things.

One is seeing Trace as soon as I try to move. Apparently, a powerful Pokémon is being spotted near Cerulean in a cave, and Trace wants to go catch it.

Too bad he's got some competition.

Because that's where I'm heading next.

Well, after some shopping, that is.

Since I cleared the main game, almost all of the other Mega Stones are available now at the League. They can only be bought once, and each is fairly expensive (30,000 Poké Dollars, which is about 10 times the amount of a Full Restore). I'm currently only interested in the stone for Gyarados, but I also try to buy as many of the others as I can. I will most likely need them for later. There are also two Mega Stones that are not sold here, but they can be found in an event that I will trigger soon.

I may as well mention a few other things before I do that, though. I am now able to fly in the sky over any outside area, provided Charizard, Areodactyl, or Dragonite is in my party. This gives me a cool view of the region, in addition to allowing me to skip battles and obstacles on the ground. At this time, I can also encounter Pokémon in the sky that typically cannot be found anywhere else. These include final forms of many Flying Type Pokémon, as well as repeatable encounters with the legendary birds. Since I have almost everything in the Dex at this point, I probably won't be using this feature.

Another feature that's now available is Hyper Training. Every Pokémon the player catches or obtains has a hidden set of values that determines their overall stats. These values are like genes, and typically cannot be changed. However, if the Pokémon is at the maximum level and the player has a Bottle Cap in their inventory, they can force one of the values up to its maximum. It's a great feature, and one that allows players to use Pokémon they've used throughout the game or otherwise would be suboptimal in competitive play. However, since I'm not a competitive Pokémon player, I won't be using this feature.

Finally, there's a scene near the time I entered the Viridian Gym of a Trainer telling Dia she is making a bouquet for someone she loves. During the credits, Dia gathers up flowers before heading into my house. When I next talk to Dia in order to fly to the League, she gives me a bouquet.

I get that it's supposed to be cute, but all I can think of is unfortunate implications, some of which the other games have touched upon… Especially considering what the bouquet is typically used for… I'm guessing Dia doesn't quite understand those implications, or the developers didn't think of it when they made the scene… Of course, it's mostly the fandom that goes crazy with those types of ideas… The games simply imply that the practice I'm thinking of happened long ago in the Pokémon world, and eventually fell out of favor… And even then, it might have only been in specific regions, because only one of the games sets in the series even mentioned that (Sinnoh games)… And the dialogue that implies this occurred is optional and hard-to-find… But still knowing all this just makes the bouquet scene kind of awkward…

But enough about that.

It's time to head into the cave I mentioned before.

But not before a battle.

The last Coach Trainer in the game is here, and even though he's optional, I want to take him on. Of course, Dia mops the floor with him and gets the TM for Megahorn.

Also, my Switch freezes when trying to close the game so I can go eat lunch… Good thing I'm almost done… Also worth noting that I just found out now that if one holds the home button down while playing a game, they can choose to put the system into sleep mode, and adjust volume and brightness. Wish I'd known that a lot sooner… Luckily, this isn't my only game, so I can use it for others…

Anyway, time to finally enter the cave.

The Cerulean Cave, also known as the Unknown Dungeon, is the last set of puzzles in the game. It is also home to the highest leveled wild Pokémon, including some that are only found there. Chansey also appears naturally here, so the cave is a good place for training. However, I won't be training until I get to the end, because of the event there.

With that, it's time to make some of the final catches in the game.

I capture a Golduck that goes unnamed. I also finally capture my own Lickitung (Lollipop) although they run away from me several times. A new feature in this version is that there are many powerful items that will respawn every day. Some areas have multiple different items that can spawn in them, but the player could only pick up one of these items per day. However, they can save before entering the area, and reset until they get the item they want.

Some of the items that fall under this category are the fossils. It's possible for a player to get the fossil they didn't choose in the main game from the areas in the cave. The first is a giant crystal on the second floor. The second is a platform on the bottom floor. Sometimes the areas will also spawn healing items that can't be found anywhere else. However, I'm really only interested now in the Dome Fossil, since that was the fossil I didn't choose, and I need it for completion. It takes a few tries, but eventually I get what I want in the first area.

I have to say I don't really mind the addition of these items. Depending on what team a player has, it's possible to be very worn down and low on items and money after beating the Elite Four. Since the Trainers after that are either limited appearances or much stronger than them, a player is likely to come here first. So opportunities like the respawning items allow players to restock.

Except there's one thing I'm not sure about.

And that's that one of the respawning items is the Master Ball.

Yes, what is possibly the most powerful item in the game, kept a secret from the common people in the lore of almost every game, can be found an infinite number of times daily in an unconnected cave.

I suppose that's there in case players that had down with an underleveled team or otherwise unprepared and without their Master Ball still have a chance of completing the dungeon. Especially since the game expects and encourages the player to use their Master Ball here. It may also be to make catching rarer Pokémon easier, such as repeated encounters with the legendary birds. Or perhaps at the throwback to the fact that players could get infinite Master Balls by using Missingno in the original Red and Blue… However, considering the lore around them and that Master Balls are very limited other than literally winning the lottery, I find the change bizarre.

Other than that, the Cerulean Cave seems much easier to traverse. Typically there were different paths, and the player would be forced on the one while they took certain exits. The player had to figure out the maze as they went from exit to exit, and eventually reach the bottom. In this version, the paths and the restrictions are taken out, and the player is free to walk anywhere on the bottom floors. Considering the player is likely to visit multiple times thanks to all the new respawning items, I can see why this change was made.

With that change, I have no problem reaching the end of the dungeon.

Within it lies another Pokémon.

Consider the most powerful Pokémon in both lore and gameplay at the time of its existence…

Feared by many, respected by all…

One of the most ruthless creatures ever to inhabit the Pokémon world…

Even after over 20 years, still one of the strongest Pokémon in history…

Mewtwo.

Mewtwo is the highest level wild Pokémon in the game (level 70) and possesses tremendous stats. On top of it, it has massive offensive power and defensive moves that can either be used to stall for time or lay waste to a player's team. Furthermore, with the levels of player finishes with, they are likely to be 15 to 20 levels below Mewtwo's… With all my training, I'm only about five levels below it, but I've simply gotten lucky…

However, the battle is very easy due to another change.

And that change is something called Mega Evolution.

I mentioned I was interested in getting Gyarados's Mega Stone, and this battle is one of the biggest reasons why.

Upon Mega Evolution, Gyarados becomes part Dark Type. Since it already has very powerful attack and learns physical Dark type moves naturally, it becomes a force to be reckoned with.

And it's something Mewtwo can't do anything against.

With two Crunches, the battle is mine. Mewtwo comes quietly in a few Ultra Balls after that. His new name is now Daniel. Unlike the other legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo can only be caught once per game aside from transferring from Pokémon GO (where it was still a limited and one-time event). Therefore, I will have to be careful what I do with Daniel…

But my adventures in Cerulean Cave aren't over yet.

Trace mentions a female Trainer also looking for Mewtwo.

It's intriguing, but I don't worry about her now.

Because now it is time to train.

I take my fossil over to Cinnabar, revive it into a Kabuto named Chaos, and begin the arduous process. Since I'm getting the last few Pokémon in the Dex, I might be here a while…

And turns out I am.

By constantly capturing Chansey, I'm able to get Angel and Chaos to their final forms. However, I'm only able to get Ayra to level 40 before experience slows to a crawl. I'm able to get Cadillac to the same level, as well is giving Duplica and the birds a few levels. Things are made more complicated because my catch combos are broken a few times, robbing me of valuable experience.

But now, I'm unsure what to do.

I need Ayra's final form to complete my Dex, but it is a pain to get, and there's only so many more places I can go for resources at this point…

Until I remember something.

There are special Pokémon that can be caught in the sky.

And one of them is Dragonite, Ayra's final form.

And it can be caught almost anywhere, including the routes near the beginning of the game.

So I guess I will be using that feature after all.

I rapidly fly and switch in my regular team. I throw myself on Damien's back using the command for him to follow me, and I'm in the air. Now I must simply capture Pokémon until the one I want appears. I capture 11 Pidgey before Dragonite makes its appearance.

But I soon discover taming the beast is not as easy as I thought.

Dragonite is difficult to catch to begin with, and being high in the sky means it's difficult to aim at. After using almost all of my easier catching berries from the Cerulean Cave and nearly depleting my stash of Ultra Balls, Dragonite runs away from me.

Leaving me to capture 15 more Pidgey, and use of all my Great Balls… At least Pidgey doesn't require Ultra Balls to capture.

The dragon enters again, and this time, I am lucky.

It comes in only a few throws, and I decide to keep it because it is so rare. Given my frustration at catching it, its name can only be Fury.

I'm glad the developers had an alternative method of capturing Dragonite, but it is still a pain…

Regardless, I now have a completed Pokédex (or at least, one the game considers complete).

So I head to Celadon to reap the rewards of my labor.

Inside the apartment building are the Gamefreak employees. Typically, they don't have anything noteworthy for the player, but the director hints at completing the Pokédex.

I can finally show him the results of my efforts.

I get a beautiful diploma and an item called the Shiny Charm. The Shiny Charm increases the chances of Shiny Pokémon appearing. I won't particularly be on the hunt for them, but it is nice to have.

It appears there's also one final Coach Trainer here, now that I've completed the game. He claims to be the strongest, but he is not much. Especially since I'm still ten levels higher than him from finding Fury. He does give me 10 items to max out the Power Points of my moves, though… I'm doing okay there, so I don't use them now.

Instead, there are few other battles I can do.

One is Mina, the girl originally introduced in Pokémon Sun and Moon. She uses a team of three fairies, and can be battled once per day. She's not particularly difficult, but she will give out a Bottle Cap every time she is defeated. Bottle Caps are utilized in Hyper Training, so Mina's immensely useful for anyone wanting to use that. I'm still much stronger than her, so it's an easy victory.

But Mina's not the only daily battle.

The Gym Leaders have returned, each with improved teams. They don't give anything other than experience and money, but they are still worth fighting. They are nothing that my overpowered team and Type advantages can't handle.

With one exception.

Blue.

As promised, he has taken over the Viridian Gym and serves as the Leader. His Pokémon are about 10 levels higher than everyone else, and he has a mixed team.

Which also means he's on my level.

Hopefully, he'll be more of a challenge.

But that hope is dashed.

He is still not that strong against my powered up Pokémon, even if he matches me in levels. I do have to heal a few times, but Blue falls just as easily as the rest.

Yet the gym leaders are not the only unfortunate opponents to go against me.

I still have to visit Cerulean Cave for the last time. One final opponent awaits me there.

She is the main female protagonist of the games, officially appearing in the previous remakes. However, concept art of her existed in the originals, where she was planned to be playable. She made a proper appearance in the Pokémon Special manga, although the fans sometimes consider that character separate from the one that debuted in the games. Nevertheless, these games treat her as the same person. They also call her Green, which was her name in the American version Pokémon Special (although her name was Blue in the original Japanese). However, I prefer to call her Leaf, because that was the name the fans gave the character that appeared in the previous remakes. Furthermore, it keeps her from being confused with Blue, whose Japanese name was Green. I wonder if the official name will truly catch on, as other people try to avoid confusion.

Regardless, the female Trainer is here now.

And she brings with her one of the strangest scenes yet.

The female Trainer immediately throws a Poké Ball at me, mistaking me for a Pokémon. Once she realizes the mistake, she asks about Mewtwo. When the female Trainer finds out it's already been captured, she throws a fit and initiates a battle. Okay, so she's a bit of a brat… Given her personality in Pokémon Special, it makes a lot of sense…

Maybe she will prove to be a worthy opponent.

And she isn't, as a bit of healing and Type advantages still take her down. The brattiness continues even after the fight, where she is still angry and continues to throw Poké Balls at me… Apparently her reasoning is that I should join her team as a Pokémon along with Mewtwo… Either the character doesn't realize how little sense that makes, or she's just messing with me… Once again, given her personality in Pokémon Special, it very well could be the latter… At least I get Mewtwo's Mega Stones out of it…

Now there's one last group of people who will be my victims.

And they are the Elite Four.

As common with most recent titles, the Elite Four now have improved teams that can be rematched as often as the player wants. They are also on my level, so let's see if they're any better than the last time I fought… I also used the money from the previous fights to buy all the other Mega Stones, and I have a lot of my old items left. So I'm not buying any new ones unless there's an emergency and I need to pull out… But judging by the fact that I'm not having any difficulty with the majority of the Trainers here, I doubt that will happen.

Anyway, I shall let the challenge commence.

Except it's not really a challenge.

The Pokémon League goes down just as easily as before, with a lot of the same strategies too… The one huge difference is Dia doesn't contribute nearly as much, mainly because of my opponents' higher level and me not wanting to take any risks.

With the league falling once again, it seems like I've done all there is do.

But one more trial awaits me.

I must battle against the Trainers who are the toughest in the region, perhaps some of the toughest in the series.

Trainers who would make the Champion tremble in fear.

Trainers so strong, they fight with Pokémon and battle tactics never before seen.

They are known only by two fearsome words.

Master Trainers.

Master Trainers appear at the beginning of the postgame, but they are considered the final challenge, and by far the toughest. They battle with special conditions that the player must fulfill in order to challenge them. First of all, each Master Trainer devotes their life to training a single species. When challenging them, the player may only use a Pokémon of the same species as the one the Master Trainer trains. Only one Pokémon is allowed per side, and neither Trainer may use items. The player's Pokémon are set to the same level as the Master Trainer's in what is known as a flat battle. Levels range from 65 to 80, depending on whether a Pokémon can evolve and what stage they are in their evolutionary line.

Each Master Trainer carries a title that they will use before the battle. If the player defeats them, they will gain the title and be able to use it themselves. Titles are displayed when a player talks to a nurse in a Pokémon Center or battles someone online. Players can switch between acquired titles by talking to an employee at the Game Freak building. There is one Master Trainer for every species of Pokémon that can be found in the game (153 in all). Some Master Trainers will not battle, instead asking the player to show them a Pokémon that has been sufficiently leveled up. These Trainers are the ones for Ditto and all of the legendary Pokémon. Master Trainers are scattered all around the region, but can be identified by an icon of the Pokémon they train above their heads.

The Master Trainers also the reason why I wanted so many version exclusives. Since the Master Trainers use one Pokémon of every species, that also requires that the player has access to one of every species as well. In terms of version exclusives, I could have one of each one, and then evolve them. However, that would make it extremely difficult to complete the Pokédex, since I could either evolve the Pokémon and be locked out of the Master Trainer battle, or wait until I've completed the battle and then evolve. Yet the second method would make it almost impossible to complete the Dex, and the first would lock me out of completing everything, with a very difficult time bringing those chances back. So I got two of the version exclusives that could evolve so I could complete both quests.

Another thing note about Master Trainers is that something special will happen if the player defeats six of them. Should the player defeat six Master Trainers, the legendary Pokémon Trainer Red will be available to challenge. Red has the highest level Pokémon in the game (mid to high 80s, when the next highest after that is high 60s), and defeating them grants the player the title of Battle Master. Red will then be available to challenge at the Pokémon League entrance after he is defeated once, but the Elite Four must be defeated again. One final note is that if the player manages to defeat all Master Trainers, they will receive the title Grand Master.

It's all an interesting trial to be sure, and one I eventually intend to complete fully. However, it requires a lot of training, and not many of my Pokémon are ready for such fearsome fights. Therefore, I will take on all of the Master Trainers and Red on my own time. For now, I will just try my hand at finding and battling the few I am able.

Mew is one of the few Pokémon that does not need to be battled, but still has a Master Trainer. Rose is in my party and has been throughout the entire game, so she should be at sufficient level to clear the quest. Therefore, I attempt finding that Master Trainer first.

Unfortunately, Rose is not strong enough. The trainers that do not battle instead judge based on a Pokémon's CP. In order to receive the Mew Master title, one must have a Mew with 8000 or more CP. Currently, Rose only has around 5000. So she still has quite a bit of training to do before I can receive the title. I'll have to come back later.

But there is another title I can try to earn now.

And that was one that was originally recommended to me.

The Eevee Master title.

With my partner's high stats and powerful moves, getting the title should be easy.

I travel to the former Cycling Road and initiate my challenge.

Before that, I run into the Team Rocket trio. It seems they miss their boss and are angry that I tried to eavesdrop… They are easily taken care of at this point… They make an offer for me to join Team Rocket after considering stealing Dia, but I refuse. However, it seems they have truly enjoyed the battle, and give me a set of clothing as thanks. They also say they be waiting for me to take them up on the offer, but based on the lore in the next games, I know that won't happen. Their dialogue implies that after this they may have gone off to truly live honest lives. I hope that's the case, because that would be very sweet. Considering how in the anime they had the potential to do so, but they couldn't because they were all caught up in horrible situations and joining Team Rocket was the only thing they could do to survive… They are a bit like Team Skull from the Alola games, only more sympathetic because a lot of their backstory is shown.

Anyway, onto the promised fight.

It goes off without a hitch. I simply use Sizzly Slide and Baddy Bad to destroy my opponent's attacks. After that, Bouncy Bubble recovers what HP I do lose. However, even with all my defenses, my foe is still doing quite a bit of damage with Double Edge. If that's the amount of power the Master Trainers have with defense against them, imagine what they're like without these advantages… It's also worth noting that battles against the Master Trainers will level the player's Pokémon down, but not up. So my opponent's Pokémon was 75, but Dia was still at 70. Dia's level was not raised during the fight, so I fought with a slight disadvantage. Nevertheless, I still get my first title. Also during that the Master Trainers have a unique theme in combat… It's very cool, being and even rockier remix of the Kanto Trainer theme

I decide to try or one more with Music. Music is my only Pokémon even close to the level of the Master Trainers, so it's worth having another fight.

Except when I look at a guide and realize Music is not anywhere near that level. I suppose more Master Trainers will have to wait.

Instead, I will give my final stats and thoughts.

Overall, I spent 66 hours and 29 minutes on the game. My final team is as follows.

Music, a male Clefable, is at level 70. His moves are Moonblast, Body Slam, Dig, and Thunderbolt. His CP is 4442.

Chase is a male Raichu at level 68. His moveset is Thunderbolt, Dig, Headbutt, and Thunder Wave. His CP is 4616.

Rose is a Mew, and thus is considered genderless by the game. However, in this log, Rose is considered female. Her moveset is Psychic, Dark Pulse, Mega Drain, and Play Rough. She is level 69. Her CP is 5160.

Sushi is a male Gyarados, level 66. His moves are Earthquake, Waterfall, Crunch, and Dragon Tail. He is also my main Mega Pokémon. His CP is 4487.

Damien is a male Charizard, and he is level 67. He has the moves Brick Break, Thunder Punch, Fly, and Flamethrower. His CP is 4373.

Dia is a female Eevee, and my partner Pokémon. She is level 70. Her moves are Sizzly Slide, Buzzy Buzz, Bouncy Bubble, and Baddy Bad. Her CP is 4737.

With all that out of the way, I may as well say some closing words.

This game is not perfect, but is very good. It's definitely worthy of being part of the main series, and doesn't deserve all the flack it gets. The revised script is excellent, and the developers did a good job of adding on to the characterization. The graphics, while not the best the Switch has to offer, are solid and often appropriate for where they are used. The remixes are very well done, bringing a refreshing take on the Kanto region, while the same time keeping the spirit of the originals. The gameplay really does feel like a regular Pokémon game, only with the more obscure and optional mechanics brought to the forefront. And the new character Trace is very funny, and enjoyable to interact with. Even though he is clearly different from Blue, he is still a very well done rival in most respects. The game also did an excellent job polishing areas that need work in the original, such as making the starter Pokémon viable throughout the entire game and getting rid of some of the parts that were overly confusing (such as finding the Card Key in Silph).

However, the game has its flaws. One of them is the easy difficulty (Master Trainers aside). Since the game is focused on catching and one gains experience and stat boosters from every catch, the player can become overpowered without even realizing it. After that, the rest of the game falls like dominoes. The revised script and graphics are enough to keep going, but it can get boring or discouraging for those looking for difficulty.

Another problem is with the new capture system. While the capture system works fairly well, there are some things that could be done better. One is that it's very difficult to train with it, as even weak Pokémon can take a while to catch. Another factor is that even if one gets good throws or otherwise tries to increase their chances of a successful capture, there's still a high element of luck involved. While luck was always present in typical Pokémon games, it's particularly an issue here because every Pokémon can run away and the player can do nothing about it.

One of the biggest issues I have is also how mythical Pokémon are handled. Overall, there were handled very badly. Mew is only available if the player is willing to basically double the price of their game, when the real-life item needed to receive the Pokémon should not have been anywhere near that expensive. Meltan is only available if one uses Pokémon Go and the transfer system, with little room in between. Furthermore, the connectivity between the systems is flawed, and there's little to do once Pokémon are transferred. Getting Melmetal takes up a lot of real-life time that could have and should have been avoided. For example, it would have been easy to use the candies in Let's Go to evolve Meltan. Instead, players have to wait several real-life weeks in order to build up enough candies in Pokémon Go, then hope nothing goes wrong during the transfer. All of this is hassle that could've easily been remedied.

Well the revised script is very good, it does have its issues. The biggest issue is with the Champion fight, with the revised fight and script not carrying the same intensity as the original. There's also the issue of a few events or lines being cut, such as references to a Pokémon Master, or a true rival battle at Silph. None of these are particularly game deciding, but they still jarring when almost every other event is either preserved or improved upon.

My last nitpick is a minor one, and involves the Gym requirements. Overall, I think they were unnecessary and felt shoehorned in. I understand that most of the requirements were acting as tutorials to introduce players the mechanics of the game, but that could have been easily done with something else (e.g. with an NPC, or several of the houses that give the player tips during the game). Some of them are also downright frustrating if a player doesn't see them coming, such as Koga's requirement, or Sabrina has provided the player decides to take on her Gym before Koga's. Overall, the Gym mechanics could have been taken out, and very little would have changed.

As for whether this or the previous remakes is the definite Kanto experience, it's a matter of taste. If one is looking for a refreshing take on Kanto's script and graphics, this is the game. The game also brings changes to the traditional Pokémon formula similar to that of Pokémon Go and optional mechanics in other main games. Anyone interested in seeing the tired and true Pokémon formula played around with a bit should pick these games up.

In contrast, if one is interested in a more difficult and traditional Pokémon experience with updated mechanics in Kanto, then the definite remake is Pokémon Firered and Leafgreen. These games are also extremely faithful to the original script, for those that don't like script revisions. The downside is that they are based off of Pokémon Red and Blue, so anything unique to Yellow is not present. The games are also several years old, so it can be difficult to find them. It's also impossible to complete the Pokédex in these games without several other outside titles, all of which are equally old and difficult to find. So players interested in completion may not want to get Firered and Leafgreen.

As for me, I can say that Let's Go Eevee was worth every bit of money I paid and was a fantastic experience despite its flaws. Even though I am a veteran of Pokémon, I believe this game can be enjoyed by players of all skill levels, and would recommend it to anyone that plays Pokémon even if they are not newcomers or Pokémon Go fans. With entries like this, the Pokémon series proves why it is so beloved, and I happily look forward to whatever else will be produced in the future.

Until another game comes, I also look back, and fondly remember all the fun times I had with Eevee.

* * *

**Author's notes:**

**-So a few comments on things that were not completed in this story. I eventually gave up the idea of trying to defeat all Master Trainers. However, I did manage to battle six of them. I used my regular team, while swapping out Mew for Chansey. However, aside from Chansey, the battles were very close, took a lot of luck, and I lost several times before winning. However, I did manage to win six of these battles and open to the path to Red. Red proved to be a tough opponent, defeating me twice. However, I did manage to win my third attempt, but he still put up quite a fight. However, I am currently using his title. Subsequent searches for Meltan were much more successful, and I currently have two Melmetal in Let's Go Eevee. There were about 200 Meltan that also were transferred over, and all have been captured and are currently with my other Pokémon. As for what I plan to do with this game, I do want to do a few challenge runs on it. Some of them may also be logs or even separate stories. However, since I only have one game, I cannot do any other run until I transfer my progress from this one to another Pokémon game. Luckily, Pokémon transferring is confirmed to be coming to Pokémon Let's Go in early 2020. The game Pokémon are transferred to will be the new main Pokémon games mentioned throughout this log, and stated to be coming out in fall of 2019.**

**Other than that, this log, and run that goes with this, comes to a close.**

**But what isn't ending is the great times I had playing the game, and the ability to look back on and relive those times using this story.**

**And of course, the event that led to me writing it.**

**The one that helped me chronicle my return to Kanto.**


End file.
